“I was told that Hardcase has come to stay with you.”
“How could you possibly know that? I didn’t know he would be here until he turned up last night,” I replied.
“Jenn Saxl phoned. She and Bobby Greven were concerned.”
“We’re fine.”
“It’s just that you are convalescing and by your own admission, encounters with Hardcase can be exhausting,” she cautioned.
I took a deep breath to keep from laughing at the unintentional truth of her words. The breath came out in a moan when Vincent wrapped his arms around me from behind and nuzzled my neck.
“Sir?”
“I’m fine, Lieutenant. We’re both fine.”
“Ask them to lunch, Rik.”
I raised a brow at him.
“So they can see that we’re okay,” he whispered in my free ear. “And leave us alone.”
“How about you bring the squad over for lunch today?”
“Sir?”
“1300 hours. See you then,” I said hanging up the phone. “Do you have any idea how much those people eat?”
“We had better get shopping then, old man.”
It was a beautiful, crisp fall morning. I had never really noticed the town center at this hour. It was surprisingly busy. I was usually driving by on the way to work. I had seldom taken lunch away from the office.
Vincent easily made his way through the crowded stalls. He found one with herbs and aromatics first. There, I learned how to buy garlic and herbs. It seemed like we bought a lot of garlic, but Vincent flashed a big smile and told me to trust him. Of course, I did. We also bought a plump, whole chicken, some cheeses, ham and salamis at the butcher shop. I sneaked some white sausages into the order while Vincent raided a produce stall that had excited him. I also purchased a couple more bottles of wine. We had two large paper shopping bags when we reached the Market Café.
“Are you feeding an army?” Bobby Greven exclaimed as we walked up to their table.
He and Jenn Saxl had chosen an outdoor table with a good view of the square. Vincent put down his bag to embrace his brother. The younger Greven was an inch taller than Vincent but he still had an innocence to his angelic features. He was literally a wide-eyed innocent. Everyone who met him liked the younger Greven. Vincent had always been much more prickly a personality. I suspected he was that way because he was so pretty as a boy. Bobby was very pleased to see his brother. He beamed at him as we seated ourselves. Jenn was her usual perky, pretty self. Her heavy auburn ponytail swung as she leaned over to hug Vincent from behind. She even managed a smile at me, her blue eyes twinkling. I left them for a moment to order coffee and orange juice for the table.
Vincent was grinning at me upon my return. “They have the sausages!”
I winked at him. “I’m overjoyed, Vincent.”
“You look good, Brother,” Bobby said. “Did you sleep, okay?”
“I slept fine,” he replied. His eyes glittered at me. “The Colonel makes a mean cup of cocoa.”
“Really?” Jenn asked. Her eyebrows couldn’t get any higher.
“I can be something other than Colonel Blitz, Ms. Saxl,” I replied mildly.
She blushed profusely and began to sputter.
“It’s okay, Jenn,” Vincent said reassuringly. “Rik isn’t angry, and he hasn’t chained me down and beat me – yet.”
I almost choked on my coffee at the image of that young, powerful body chained to my bed. I glared at Vincent, but he just gazed back impishly.
“We were worried that we did something to upset you,” Bobby said after we ordered.
“It’s not like that at all,” Vincent relied earnestly. “Being with you all again is a miracle, and it’s made me happier than I can ever say. But you know how you and I have gone through stuff that nobody else can understand? We can only talk to each other about it, right?”
“Yeah?” Bobby replied.
“Well, there are some things that the Colonel and I went through that only he and I can understand,” Vincent continued gently. “I need to stay with someone I can talk to about these things while I heal.”
“I find I need that as well,” I admitted softly.
“You won’t fight?” Jenn demanded.
“We might,” Vincent said with a smile. “But if we do, doesn’t that mean we’re back to normal?”
“Can we come to see you there?” Bobby asked.
Vincent looked at me. He seemed flummoxed.
“Yes, you and Jenn and anyone else can visit,” I replied. “But call first, and don’t be upset if there are times when we’re not up for company.”
“I’ll have bad days,” Vincent said somberly. “We both will.”
“Okay,” Bobby agreed.
The food arrived then, much to my relief. The discussion made me lose my appetite for a bit, but the plates smelled too good to ignore. We all fell silent to enjoy breakfast. It wasn’t until then that I began to hear the voices around us. Vincent had been correct. There was much to be learned that wasn’t in the papers. The elderly ladies enjoying a morning cup of coffee knew more about troop movements than Central Command would be comfortable with. It made sense that they would know where their children were and what they were doing.
Some of the people in the square recognized me or Vincent or both of us. Most were mildly curious. Some of the voices swirling around us troubled me. We were just finishing our meal when a stranger said, “I don’t see how he’s all that dangerous. He looks real pretty to me.”
Everyone at the table froze then looked at Vincent fearing an explosion. I took the opportunity to press the beacon alert on my dog tags. The squad would be there in moments. Meanwhile, I had to defuse my lover.
Vincent, however, was mildly finishing his sausages. He looked up at the table in surprise.
“What?” He asked. “I don’t disagree with them, do you? Jenn, you’ve said that I’m pretty.”
“True,” she admitted.
“And so has the Colonel,” he continued.
“No, I haven’t,” I replied to Bobby’s relief.
“What?” Vincent bristled.
“I said you are beautiful,” I corrected stunning poor Bobby and Jenn.
“Close enough,” Vincent shrugged. “And I know that Bobby doesn’t think I’m ugly.”
“Er...no...” Bobby replied with uncertainty.
“As close as that’s going to get,” Vincent declared. “I thank you, and my friends agree with you.”
That response thoroughly confused the would-be troublemakers. They literally gaped at us. I took the opportunity to note what kind of firepower they had and if there were cohorts about. The former was considerable though nothing that Vincent and I couldn’t handle easily. The latter was likely, but I couldn’t fathom why. No civilian could carry what it would require to take us both down – even in our weakened states.
“Would you care to join us for coffee?” I asked.
The loud mouth sputtered. I ordered another pot of coffee. Vincent and Bobby ordered pastries. Jenn continued to stare at me as she had since I called Vincent beautiful. Before the thugs could wind up for another attempt, I heard military vehicles screech to a halt.
“Gentlemen,” Lt. Remak said firmly. “The Colonel and the Major are not on active duty. Is there something we can assist you with?”
They were sneering among themselves at Lt. Remak’s feminine voice. They turned white when they saw caught sight of Maximilian and the rest of the squad. Maximilian was the biggest Altered I had ever seen. His muscles could be barely contained in his uniform and he was almost a foot taller than the rest of us. I noticed two more thugs rush out of the square.
“We didn’t mean n-nothin -- just wanted to see them in action,” the head moron sputtered.
“That would be exceedingly dangerous in this setting. Both of these officers are considered military weapons,” the Lt. Replied. “We suggest you be on your way.”
As they turned to leave, one droppe
d a very nasty looking rifle. The squad instantly trained weapons on the morons. As their hands went up, more weapons dropped. Vincent, Bobby and I had to scramble to catch some of them to keep them from going off.
Maximilian picked both men up by the backs of their neck and easily held them off the ground. “It seems you will be coming with us. Good day Colonel, Vincent, Bobby and Ms. Saxl.”
“Thank you. See you all at lunch,” I said.
“One moment,” Lt. Remak said. “Colonel, perhaps we should see you two home. It may not be safe.”
“I’m certain the excitement is over,” I replied firmly. “We’ll see you later.”
With that, I returned to my fresh cup of coffee, and Vincent attacked his pastry. Bobby and Jenn stared at us.
“I can’t believe you didn’t fight him, Brother.”
“Yeah? Well, he wanted me to and nobody pushes me around,” he muttered.
“That’s my Vincent,” I chuckled.
He blushed at my regard, and then shrugged. “I kinda learned to pick my battles after a couple of years of surviving with no back up.”
“You have grown up, Hardcase,” I commented. There was admiration in my tone.
Vincent’s amber eyes flashed at me mischievously over his pastry.
“You two sure are different,” Jenn said.
“I’m still me, guys,” Vincent said quietly. “You just need time to see that.”
I looked at Vincent carefully. He seemed a bit tired. I certainly was. And we had the walk home.
“I think we should get back,” I said. “We have to make lunch for the squad, and I need a nap.”
“We could help you make lunch,” Bobby offered.
“Nah, I need to do fine hand work for therapy, as Jenn knows,” Vincent replied. “You guys can come though.”
“Okay, well be there!” Jenn said brightly.
I rose to pay the check. We needed to get home before Vincent invited the whole square for lunch. As I reached the table once again, the two elderly ladies who had been seated nearby approached.
“Are you really Colonel Heron?” The taller woman asked. “And Major Greven?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I replied as Vincent stood. “How can we help you?”
“We would like to thank you,” the stouter woman said. “Your bravery prevented that thing from attacking the city. Our children were spared facing it.”
“We could do nothing else,” I said honestly.
“That’s true, ma’am,” Vincent added.
“Well, thank you just the same,” the tall one said. Then she kissed my cheek as the other lady hugged Vincent. Then I was hugged while Vincent was kissed. We were both blushing deeply by the time we left the café.
“Do you really need a nap?” Vincent asked as we neared the house. We had been silent for much of the walk back. Vincent was enjoying the sun on his skin and I was enjoying watching him.
“Yes, I do,” I replied. “I channel so much energy through my body in a battle, I get exhausted. That last fight took almost everything I had. Overcoming extreme fatigue is part of the recovery. You don’t have to...”
“It’s okay. I can read while you nap,” he said shyly. “Besides, I find that I like you holding me.”
“That’s good to hear,” I replied with a smile. “Saves me from having to persuade you.”
Vincent put away the food while I started the fire. All citizens had to conserve fuel, so hearths were the order of the day until winter was fully upon us.
“I usually stretch out on the sofa to be near the fire,” I said as I removed my shoes.
“Suits me,” Vincent said from the kitchen.
When he came out, Vincent snagged a textbook from the bookshelf in the diningroom then toed out of his boots and loosened his pants. He surprised me by stretching out on the length of the sofa opening his legs and holding his arms out to me. I laid face down resting my head on his chest holding him as best I could. I fell asleep listening to his heart while he gently stroked my hair.
The clock read 11:30 when I could focus on it. One of Vincent’s hands was tangled in my hair. The other rested on the small of my back. His hand stroked my hair upon my movement.
“Did you fall asleep?” I asked.
“Hmmmm, yeah,” he replied with a yawn. “You felt so good.”
“Do we have time to make lunch?” I asked.
“Lots. It’s simple enough.”
I rose to my knees over his prone body. We kissed for a long moment before completely rising. Vincent led the way to the kitchen.
“It’s all slicing or tearing stuff,” Vincent said as he began to pull out the cheeses and lunchmeats. “Cube the cheeses and slice the meats. Pile them on separate plates.”
Vincent began a frenzy of chopping vegetables and shredding lettuces. He tossed everything in a big pot. I frowned at him.
“No salad bowl,” he explained.
That gave me pause. Not that I ever needed a large salad bowl before. “I’ll make a list of things to buy. Do we have enough plates and flatware?”
“Somehow. There’s the stuff you have in the cabinets, and there’s a new set of each deep in the back,” Vincent said.
“Must have been Lt. Remak. She once tried to civilize me,” I said softly.
Long, elegant fingers cupped my chin. They gently turned my head. “You can’t help how you feel, Rik. Jenn had some ideas about me, too. Still does, I think.”
“I thought as much,” I murmured. “It’s kinder to let them know it’s not possible. It’s just difficult sometimes. They are both very kind.”
“Shows you’re human,” he replied. “Despite popular opinion.”
“Brat,” I murmured before kissing his grinning lips.
Whatever my lover was going to say ended with a loud moan. The clock-chiming noon brought us back to reality. Vincent had me arrange sliced fruit on another plate while he sliced the many baguettes and put the slices in a big basket.
“All you have left to do is make a big pot of tea while I make salad dressing,’ Vincent said. “We’ll have time to spare.”
“You think so?” I wondered. “I think a number of them will be early believing we need help.”
My lover exhaled impatiently. “What does it take? Don’t they know how big that thing was that we fought? We can handle a little food prep.”
“They still remember how fragile we were for all those weeks afterward,” I replied. “They mean well.”
“I know, it’s just frustrating,” he muttered. “I’m glad you don’t treat me like a china doll.”
I grabbed him then and pulled him against me. “You are a doll, but certainly not made of china.”
I was planning to indulge in claiming Vincent’s sweet, hot mouth, but the doorbell rang. My lover’s annoyed whimper pleased me. I almost laughed as he stomped to the door and all but threw it open. To my surprise it was Lt. Remak with Bobby Greven and Jenn Saxl. It was not a combination I was expecting.
“I found them walking along the road,” Lt. Remak said in response to my curious expression.
“You were headed down the road very early,” I commented.
“I have a report on that incident at the market,” she replied crisply.
“You two might as well be useful and put the trays in the kitchen on the dining room table,” Vincent said. He made them immensely happy.
“It seems the pair were paid handsomely along with three cohorts to provoke a confrontation,” Remak reported from her notepad.
“For what reason?” I asked.
“As much destruction to the Market Square as possible,” she replied. “They don’t know why.”
“To discredit the military,” I replied. “There are many ruffled feathers from two years ago that would like the military muzzled further. I’ve read that there were voices who wanted to blame the military for that attack we just fought.”
“That’s insane,” Vincent snapped.
“That’s politics,” I said. “
What troubles me is that kind of action points to a much larger effort.”
“They won’t leave us alone, whoever they are,” Vincent muttered bitterly. “I’m done being a puppet, Colonel.”
“Well put,” I said, soothing his escalating ire. “I will retire before being drawn into another bloody, clandestine conflict.”
Vincent gaped at me. “You mean that?”
A Soldier’s Passion Page 3
