Turning, he stared at her. “I want to thank you for everything you’ve done. You didn’t have to do this. You and your brother make me feel special. I’ve never had that before, even with the asshole.” She smiled up at him.
“We will always put your needs before ours, little one. You have a bright soul—how can we not want you in our lives? We’ve only just begun, baby. Now take your bath.” He leaned down and although he barely touched her lips with his her insides heated.
The door closed behind her and Laura looked around the space. On the counter lay a green dress with a small note. “You will need no undergarments here.”
She laughed and lightly touched the dress, realizing it was silk. “Beautiful.”
After a half hour of soaking in the tub, Laura felt like a new person. Her bath salts had been placed in the bathroom and she’d chosen honeysuckle, one of her favorites. The dress was smooth on her skin and she loved how it curved to her body.
The door behind her cracked open. In the mirror, she watched Grant step into the bathroom behind her. He gently took the brush out of her hand and started to brush her hair. “I wanted to apologize to you for my reaction earlier. I know you are only helping me but at the time…” She sighed and looked down. “It seemed as if everything came at me at once. I felt lost, as if I had nothing. With the apartment…it was my own, so no one could throw me out.”
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the side of her neck. “There is no reason to apologize. We know this is happening fast. I just wish we didn’t have this threat hanging over our heads.” He turned her around and cupped her face. “I have good news though. We’ve recovered your mother’s body. For now we are going to bury her in a private cemetery here in Maine, where no one can get at her. Is that okay with you?”
She slowly inched her arms around his neck and reached up to kiss his chin. “Thank you. That would be fine. As long as I know she is safe.”
* * * * *
Daniel met them at the stairs. Laura was stunning in the dress Grant had picked for her. Daniel was grateful his other brothers had arrived before them and gotten the house ready—he’d have to thank them later.
“Are you ready?” Daniel asked. “I took one of the bottles you had ready for Max and fed him. I even gave him a bath and changed his clothes, so he’s all ready for bed.” He handed Max to her and she smiled.
“Thank you. You are the first to ever help me with him. I don’t know how you arranged everything in his room and ours, but it is impressive.” Her stomach growled and Grant laughed.
“Come on. I have a nice long sweater to go with the dress. The flats fit, I see.” Both men escorted her toward the back door, where Grant held out a dark green sweater for her.
“Yes, they are a perfect fit. Grant, are those two men okay? You know the ones who were in front of us? I felt so bad leaving them there without making sure they were going to make it.”
Walking toward their folks’ house, Grant informed her of the condition of their men. Both would be arriving here in a few days as their wounds not life threatening. He glanced to the left to see Alex coming down the sidewalk with Rafe, Justin and Bo.
She too wore a dress, but this was a bright-red one that hugged her curves and set off her dusky skin. “Do I take it the three of them are interested in my friend?” Laura nudged him and whispered to him.
He laughed and nodded. “Yes and they’ll take great care of her, I promise. If they don’t, I’ll personally kill the three of them.”
Grabbing hold of his t-shirt, Laura yanked on it ‘til he lowered his head where she kissed him. “Thank you. She’s all I have left. When Mom died, she was the only one there for me.”
They walked around the corner and she stopped. “Damn, how many men do you have?” Laura asked, biting her lower lip.
“They are all here to protect you and our family. I have five teams of twenty of the finest former Marine, Air Force, Navy and Army operatives here under my command. When there is a threat, we pull together. We are the only group of our kind in the world. It’s one of the reasons why we’re always on call. We have two other teams spread out, searching for those who would harm us. My men are only called in as a last resort, but when one of their own is threatened, they all come.” Grant stared out at the men who crowded around the grills, talking.
“We have this whole place surrounded with alarms and men,” Grant said. “If anyone steps onto this land, we will know.”
Hearing the sadness in Grant’s voice, Laura rubbed her head on his arm. “I’ve been told I’m a great listener if you ever want to talk.”
Grant looked at Daniel, then down at Laura. “I’m fine, but thank you. Maybe one day I’ll be able to open up, but I can’t now. It’s still too raw. Having you here with us helps more than you know.” Grant kissed her forehead. “Come, Mom is waiting for us.”
As they walked up to the grill, Nadine and Tracy pulled Alex and Laura into the house, talking up a storm. Daniel and Grant waited to hear what the general had to say. The general reported to the president about their orders.
“The general has given me the green light and he has ordered Samuel’s teams to be ready if we need them. Dad has closed the offices for the next two weeks and the rest of the family will be here tomorrow.” Grant took a swig of his beer, observing everything around them.
“What aren’t you telling us?” Seth asked as Daniel leaned against one of the large oak trees. Justin, Rafe, Bo, Seth and Zenith stood around them while others all turned toward him, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“Get Alex and Laura out here. They should hear this too.” Grant ran his hand through his hair.
“We’re here. What’s wrong?” Laura pushed through the men with Alex to stand in front of them.
“I’m sorry. My men were in the process of packing up the rest of your belongings, Laura, when they were attacked. We have one small truckload coming but the rest we lost along with the building. Thirteen civilians were killed and the building was leveled. Alex, your house is gone. By the time we got there, it was burning to the ground. We couldn’t save anything.”
“Those motherfuckers!” Alex yelled as she and Laura held onto each other.
“How many of your men were hurt?” Laura asked. “Most of our things can be replaced, but men can’t.”
A strong surge of pride went through Grant, and Daniel leaned down and kissed her cheek. “A few were hurt, but they will survive. Thank you for your concern.” Grant straightened up and scanned the men moving in around them.
“Those of you who have families, call them. We have enough room for them here. The plane is ready to pick them up. We’ll make this our home base because it looks as if we are going to be here a while. Zenith, I want you to take ten men and go into town tomorrow. The general and I have ordered ten mobile homes to be delivered. We’ll set them up on the east pasture there and hook them up to electricity. That pasture is surrounded on three sides by the mountains, so it’s well protected. If we need more homes we’ll call and order them. This way, those who do have families will have something private. For the rest of you, there are the bunkers for you to use.”
Reaching out, Daniel wrapped his arm around Laura’s waist. Her body shook as she rested her head on his chest. “How can I help? I want to do my part—these people need to be stopped. I didn’t know anyone in my apartment building, but they didn’t deserve this.”
He heard the sadness in her voice, but she was seemingly trying to be strong for them. “We’re going to have over a hundred men here, and some families. Why don’t you, Mom and Alex put together lists of things we’ll need for food and such? Mom knows how to cook for large groups of people, but she’ll need help.”
“I’ve already called the next farm over,” Nadine said, stepping forward. “They raise fine-grade beef and we’ve gotten many cows from them. I’ve told them we’re going to need at least ten for now, slaughtered and cut up. Your father has the walk-in freezers in the basement where
we can store the meat for now but maybe we can build a special kitchen and mess hall for everyone in the new barn. It’s never been used and it’s big enough, and the men could maybe put some kind of rec center in there for them. We’re lucky we’re going into summer—Laura and I can plant plenty of food. We also have the bison too.” Nadine turned and glanced at Richard.
“That small shed would make a great chicken coop. We could have our own fresh eggs to save us from going into town. Maybe some turkeys too, but we’re still going to draw attention with this many men here.” Laura looked to Grant and he nodded.
“I’m sure they are already aware we are here. We are lucky our town is small. I’ve been ordered to place the town on notice. We have men surrounding it as we speak. The mayor and the sheriff have been notified and they will be here shortly to discuss things. One good thing about this town is there is only one way into it and it’s being watched as we speak. It will be a lot easier to protect against threats.” He sighed and looked at his men.
“The president has designated the town and the surrounding area as our own personal base. I’ll be going into town with Daniel to speak with the town people tomorrow. They all will have a choice—we’re offering to buy their land or they can stay. Either way we will protect everyone who stays.”
“I’d like to go into town with you. Maybe having us around will help ease the other women. We can help too.” Laura turned in his arms to face Grant.
Grant shook his head. “I don’t want you off this property, Laura. You’ve been through enough and I won’t risk your life. Think of your son.”
She stiffened in Daniel’s arms. “I want to help and I’m good at organizing things. Alex can watch Max for me while we’re gone. Nadine, let’s go make a list while the food cooks. Alex, you coming?” She stepped out of Daniel’s arms only to be yanked into Grant’s arms.
“I mean it, Laura, you’re not going, and that is final.” Grant shook her a little.
“Let me go now. This is not over. We will discuss this tonight, not in front of your men.” She latched onto Alex’s hand, getting away from Daniel and Grant before either could do anything.
Their mom laughed and followed Laura and Alex into the house. His father shook his head, smiling. “She’s a keeper, that one. Has the strength to stand up to the both of you. Now tell me, how dangerous are we talking here.” His father was all business. Any threat to his family and his father would let nothing stand in his way.
“They’re just not hitting our family. It seems that they are hitting at strategic places in the U.S. Places where Hager believed our teams were stationed. Hager not only has had time to rebuild his army, but it looks as if he’s joined forces with a number of operatives from Europe. The president has been informed and the public thinks it’s terrorists right now. A total of six additional targets have been hit—two in New York, two in two in Texas and two in California, along with the attacks in Ohio. Death toll so far is sixty-three and rising. I’m afraid we won’t be going back to New York any time soon. We’ve been told to stay put for the summer, at least until things settle down. For right now the president wants us hidden until we have the largest target.”
“Do we have locations on any of them?” Daniel asked, moving away from the tree.
“Yes, we have two of Hager’s headquarters under surveillance now. Until I get word, we are just to watch. These are small units. I want the big one and I’m hoping they will lead us to it. That’s when we make our move, not before.” Grant looked up at the house, then back at Daniel. “We have to stay together on this, Daniel. I don’t want her out there.”
He nodded. “I’m with you. If it means so much to her, we can have the women meet here on some days, as long as they have passed security clearance.”
His brother nodded. “Good. It’s settled.” Grant looked toward the house. Both of them knew Laura and their family were all that mattered.
Chapter Nine
Laura stood at the sliding glass door burping Max as she watched more Hummers pulling in and men getting out carrying duffle bags. In little over two hours, the area swarmed with military men.
One of the large mobile homes had arrived early and using it as their command post, Grant and Daniel begun setting up equipment while they ate.
“Why do I feel as if we are in the twilight zone?” Alex asked turning and shaking her head. “Even on the news they aren’t saying much about the bombings.” She pulled out a chair at the table and sat next to Nadine and her daughter.
“I have to say I’ve never seen it this bad, but then when my son formed this special team, the Badgers or whatever they call themselves, I knew then things would change.” Nadine tapped the pen on the table. “So do we need anything else for the garden?”
Laura shook her head. “No, you have everything we’ll need. I noticed you have grape vines and a strawberry patch. We’ll be able to make our own jelly and soaps too. I’ve added the few things we’ll need for that. We might want to also think about wintertime. If we’re going to be stuck here, we should stock up on coats, boots and such for everyone.”
“That has been taken care of. Supplies have already started to arrive. We have enough MREs to last for two years stored in the cellar under the barn and a truckload of coats, boats and fatigues arrived less than a half hour ago.” Daniel said, coming in and kissing her head. “It’s getting late and everyone is settling down. Come on, let’s go home. Mom, I’ll come by in the morning for that list. Alex, Rafe is waiting for you.” He scooped up Max’s carrier and urged Laura outside to the path toward her new temporary home.
Behind them, Rafe and Alex followed, but no one said anything. Laura kissed Alex on the cheek and went up the stairs once inside. Daniel stood at the bottom of the stairs and spoke to Rafe but Laura ignored them, preparing for the battle to come.
Oh she knew Grant wouldn’t allow her to go, but she would say her piece. She knew they both wanted to protect her and Max, but acting like a caveman in front of everyone would have to go.
Of course she would rely on Grant and Daniel for protection. She wasn’t stupid. “They’re just going to have to back off with the badass routine,” she assured Max. “You’ve been so good today. Mommy loves you, sweetie. Things will settle soon, I promise.” She changed Max and slipped on one of the new sleepers they had gotten for him.
“Sleep well, little guy.” Laura covered him with the blanket and grabbed the handheld monitor, turning it on before she walked into the bedroom and closed the door behind her.
She jumped when warm arms surrounded her from behind, careful of her side. “Badass, ha.” Grant nipped her ear and turned her to face him. His shirt was off and he was barefoot.
“Yes.” She lifted her head and ducked under his arm, getting away from him. She noticed the little alcove was now open, but her nervousness would not deter her from confronting them.
“Take off the dress, Laura, and come to me,” Grant ordered.
“No! We will talk before we go any further.” Laura stood her ground as Daniel came into the room and stripped off his shirt. Daniel looked from her to Grant.
“Trouble already?” Daniel asked. Grant frowned.
“There is no trouble,” Laura said. “I want to speak to both of you. I know I was wrong to ask to go with you tomorrow.” She sighed and sat on the bed. “I shouldn’t have confronted you in front of your men, and I’m sorry, but you were wrong too.” She looked up as both men came to stand beside her.
“I want to be treated as a partner. I’m not stupid, and I know you two will take care of us, but I would like some consideration, because you embarrassed me too. I know I’m right about the women of this town. If they feel threatened, their men will also. I just thought a woman’s presence might help, but you completely dismissed me without even considering what I said. All I’m asking is that you listen to me.” Laura looked up at Grant.
He held out his hand and she placed her smaller one into his as he tugged her into his arms. “You’re
right and I’m sorry, but I still don’t want you going with us. Until the town is secure, I need you to stay here. When the town is secure, we’ll see. Daniel did have an idea.” Grant kissed a path down to her neck and bit her shoulder before yanking her dress up and over her head.
“I thought we could set up a type of web-com you could speak from home but still be there,” Daniel said, squeezing her ass. “And if the women still had questions they could email them to you. My brother is a computer geek. He’ll set it all up and make sure it’s secure. Now go get on the table, Laura.”
Both men stepped away from her and Laura would have fallen back onto the bed if Grant hadn’t studied her before releasing her. She eyed the exam table and slowly moved to it, only glancing back once at both Grant and Daniel.
“I’m scared,” she admitted. “I haven’t done any of this stuff.” Her voice was a whisper, but they heard her and were next to her in a second.
“We will never hurt you. Do you believe that?” Grant helped her onto the stool near the table so she wouldn’t have to jump up.
Turning to scoot on the table, she nodded and took a deep breath. “Yes, I trust you.”
“Lie back and put your feet in the stirrups, sweetheart. We need to stretch you, so both of us can take you.” Daniel assisted her in putting her feet up and strapping them to the table. “Have you ever had anyone make love to that fine ass of yours?” he said sliding his fingers down her wet pussy lips to her nether hole, tapping it.
Taking her hands, Grant lifted them and tied a silk scarf around them, attaching it to the table. “It is easy to get out of if you have to but I want you to try to stay put.” He leaned down and kissed each of her cheeks. “Put some of that cream Seth gave us on her sores first.”
As they moved to her left side, both men examined her wounds. “Do they hurt?” Grant’s worried expression met hers and she smiled.
“Just when I move wrong. They itch more than anything.”
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