"Where are you taking me?" I struggled against the restraints as I tried to take stock of my surroundings. My heart was still beating too loudly in my ears, and the tinny taste of fear lingered in my mouth. I held my breath as best I could and strained to hear what was going on around me over the vicious thumping of my heart. That saying 'blind fear' is very accurate. It felt like all my senses, especially that one was on have the fritz. I worked my jaw when I realized I was gritting my teeth too hard to stop myself from wetting my pants. My body was tense, poised, and ready to take flight, but I couldn't have moved even had I not been tied up and immobile. I slowed my breath, if only to stop the unhealthy racing of my heart, and started to settle down once I realized that there was no immediate danger. It took a sec for my mind to send that message to my body, but my limbs soon started to relax, bit by bit. Once I finally got my bearings, I used my shou
Of course, I wanted to curl into a ball and cry until he came and got me, but I could hear his strong, reassuring voice in my head. Yelling at me to use everything I had in my power to survive. Fresh tears started as I envisioned our nighttime ritual from my youth. Ever since I was old enough to remember, daddy would tuck me in. Whenever he was at home, that is and not off saving the world. He'd sit next to my bed and read to me before brushing the hair back from my face with his reassuring hand. Then he'd lean in close and kiss my forehead before whispering in my ear what a precious person I am, how no one was better or stronger, how I could do and be anything I want because I was made special and there was only one me. Those words always made me feel taller, stronger braver. Like I could take on the world. Thinking of him and mom, the strength they'd tried to instill in me, made me all the more determined to fight. Though my mind struggled to sway f
Now I've awakened here in the belly of a dark, dank container, and every depraved act man had perpetrated against man since the beginning of time played itself out in my head. That's the flip side to having a daddy who protects you from everything and tries his best to give you all the tools you'll need to stay safe. Some day he'll have to tell you just what the hell it is he's keeping you safe from. My daddy, being who he is, never sugar coated shit for his only daughter. I wanted to scream, throw up and go back to sleep so I could wake up from this nightmare, but there was no shying away from reality. This shit is happening in real time and if I don't come up with something, my life is never going to be the same again. I know the odds though, and they're not good. Is this it then? Is this the end of the line for me? But why? Isn't there supposed to be some kind of logic to life? Why should these people, complete strangers no less, get to decide what course m
My mind flashed to a story I'd read years ago when I was too young to understand the severity of the situation. It was the story of a young girl, one much younger than I am now. A girl who'd been taken from her bed in the middle of the night. A family torn apart, a city on edge as the nation watched. That girl had found her way back home. I too can do the same. The thought gave me solace and I held onto it for as long as I could, keeping the fear at bay. I'll bide my time until I get the lay of the land so to speak, and then I'd go from there. I won't fight them until I was sure I'm in a position to win. Any opportunity that arises I'll take it, no matter what I have to do to escape this horror. That's a girl Kelly, keep thinking ahead don't look back. I felt my inner strength build and left the defeatist attitude in the dust. My daddy has been preparing me for this day ever since I got a firm grasp on the English language. Both mentally and physically
I jumped straight up in bed with my heart racing, glock in hand, body in fight mode. I listened for any kind of sound as I scanned all four corners of the bedroom with my gun arm extended. What the fuck was that? Still caught in that place between sleep and wake I couldn't immediately decipher if the disturbance had been internal, or something that was physically here with me. My gut was tied in knots and I felt fear like I haven't since I was a kid. There was a strange hum in my ears and my breath stilled in my lungs as I tried to get my bearings. With my training I would've known by now if there were anyone else in the room with me. There wasn't, but I still couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong. I listened very carefully and there was no sound, but still everything in me screamed extreme danger. I could almost taste it, and all my signals were going off full blast. Some fuck was wrong, my hackles were raised and my skin pr
I thought of the CO as I did my laps in the indoor pool. Swimming helps me to relax and clear my head when it gets too hot, or when something keeps rattling around in there. It wasn't long before I felt the stress begin to leave me and my limbs became more relaxed and pliant as the tension eased. Only in the water do I feel this at peace. An old woman once told me that it was because of my 'gift'. Apparently those things are all connected to the elements or some shit. I could do without this 'gift' as she called it, though it has helped me out a time or two in the past. And then there're the times when it's a right pain in the ass; like now. From the time I was a very young kid, before my dad tried to beat it out of me, I had a very strong sixth sense. Apparently it's something that ran in the male line of my family. Some Celtic shit that had been passed down since the days of the druids or some fuck. Fuck if I know, I grew up on the streets
That was the night they became my brothers in heart. It was from that moment on that the seven of us just clicked into place for me. That was a lifetime ago now and we'd come very far and had faced some serious shit together over the years that had only made us closer, stronger. As time went by we became more than just a team. I don't remember us ever being apart even when we came back stateside after that. Lo had decided to take our training a step farther and since we were a motley crew of semi orphans, we all just seemed to fall into brotherhood. Before that I was more of a loner; still have a bit of the lone wolf in me. The navy hadn't knocked the stubborn out of me and I'd say for sure if not for my brothers, my ass wouldn't have made it out of the sling a time or two. But since we 'semi retired' I've calmed the fuck down like ninety percent. Lo has a lot to do with that. He knows each of us almost as well as we know ourselves. That's why he's so good at
We've had to protect women before but under very different circumstances. There's a big difference between shielding girls and women in a school in Kabul that was under threat of being bombed because some asshole didn't think women should learn shit, and having that shit happening in your own backyard, with women that are now family. The situation still gives me pause, but I can't say that I would wish for things to be different at this stage. I can't imagine them not being here, part of the fabric of our lives. My brothers are happy and after the shit we'd seen together in the field, I can honestly say, they deserve every bit of that happiness. I'll do whatever it takes to see that nothing and no one fucks with it and them. It hadn't been easy at first, had taken some getting used to for the rest of us each time another one fell. It had been just us guys for so long that suddenly having the care of females was going to take some reorganizing on our part.
*** "Stop being so nervous, everything is going to be fine." We were about an hour out from the wedding on the beach and she was the one reassuring me. I don't know why, but now that we were down to crunch time I have this fear that some shit is gonna go wrong. Maybe because I know that she's the best thing that ever happened to me. Or maybe it's because I still don't think I deserve her. Whatever it is, I have this feeling that some shit's gonna go wrong. "Come 'ere." I wrapped my arms around her and felt myself settle. "I love you, I'm not nervous about marrying you, I just don't want anything to go wrong on our big day." I hope Ty the fuck isn't lurking around somewhere listening to this or he'd ride my ass for sure. "Nothing's gonna go wrong, now go be with your brothers while I finish getting dressed." Dani and Gaby had been pounding at our cottage door for the last half an hour trying to get me to release her. The women were getting dress
"Lyon your daughter is fucking adorable." "Dude what the fuck, she's sixteen." I glared at Mancini the fuck ready to take him out. "Not the teen you ass, the little one." That shit made me snort like Kat does. "Oh yeah?" She's been working her con on her new uncles. To a man they melt whenever she bats those lashes of hers at them. She knows better than to try that shit with me. That ship sailed when the little shit was three and I caught her making her own damn glue to fuck with her big sister's hair. "What's she doing that makes her so adorable this time?" I hadn't seen her in a little bit, figured she was with her mom and the other women. Thank fuck. We were here to relax after all and that one don't know the meaning of the word. "She's reading to Zakira, very hush-hush. Must be some story the way the two of them have their heads together whispering." I flew out of my chair two seconds later. "Lyon what the fuck?" Tyler and the others looke
Three weeks later we were back on the island, which looked like a completely different place. Cierra had shown up a few days early to get the place set up. There were flowers everywhere leading from the lawn down to the beach and a canopy that looked like it would hold a couple hundred people easy. We hadn't been let in on any of the plans. After all the threats the women had made about making us help them plan. In the end it was decided that as men we didn't know the first thing about it and were left to our own devices. We'd used the time to take care of our business and make sure that the people we'd left in charge had done a good job, which they had. The CO and his boys had been busy in that time and once the news broke about the trafficking ring and all those who were involved, everything was total chaos. As Mancini had predicted, there were a lot of people with their heads on the chopping block, including the fuck up who couldn't hide behind his
No one else spoke and I know my brothers like me were still coming to terms with what we were seeing. I've never experienced shocked joy before but I can't say I didn't like it. "I thought I covered my tracks pretty well, but something went wrong and that's when I tried calling you in. When you were sent into a trap, I knew I had to do something or we'd all be fucked, so I came up with a plan." "I know how the general operates, so when he invited himself here under the guise of friendship I was ready for him. I'd already taken the antidote for his little surprise so when he slipped me the poison I pretended to be dead while he ransacked my place looking for what I had." "So that's why the closed coffin." Connor asked as he too looked over the commander as if not quite believing his own eyes. "I had to do it this way boys. I knew once I was gone that you'd take care of it once you got wind of what was going on. I didn't want you involved, but I couldn't get c
It was a long fucking thirty-six hours but once we landed all my fatigue went away as soon as I saw her waiting for me. The others were there as well, but I only had eyes for her. She ran to meet me as soon as I stepped off the plane and I grabbed her up in my arms. Nothing had ever felt this good. "Is it over?" She had tears in her eyes. I put her back on her feet and dried her face, my heart breaking just a little at all that she'd had to go through. "It's over baby. Don't cry anymore okay, I can't bear it." She held my hand to her chest and nodded as the last fear fell. I pulled her into my chest and kissed her forehead before heading after the others. "Boys I hate to do this to you, but you only have a few hours down time, we have to get back to your compound ASAP." "What the fuck Mancini, why what's going on there?" "You'll see when we get there, get some sleep." He just walked away with his arm around his woman leaving the rest of us look
No one breathed easy as we flew through the night, heading towards the gulf, which is where Mancini informed us Khalil was meeting with the senator. "So that's how he's always evaded us, he uses a decoy." Logan looked around at the rest of us. "Yep, I guess for the criminal element it pays to be paranoid." Con stretched out his legs and closed his eyes. "But how did he know we were coming?" Ty dropped his head back and rubbed his eyes. "I'm not sure he did, but after the move on the general, he must've decided to be extra careful." Mancini filled us in. "How sure are we that he's the one with the senator?" "Track seems pretty sure, like I said, he has eyes on him and they're in a convoy tent. Lots of security so we have to go in hard and fast." It only took us half an hour to land and we hit the ground running. I'm pretty sure my brothers like me, were hoping that this was it. Sure we'd hit and missed before with the Fox, but we all knew
We arrived in full dark the next day and immediately went into high gear. This place is crawling with military intelligence and a host of unsavory characters on a good day, so we had to get in and out in as little time as possible without being seen. Mancini had a station set up in the desert, not sure how he pulled that off, but it looked like any other bivouac we'd ever seen and would cause no undue interest. In the last few hours before we landed once everyone had rested, some better than others, we'd gone through the plans again. Only a few of us were going into the camp where the signals from Khalil's phone were pinging, because it would be too dangerous for us all to go. Had this been a military Op, it wouldn't have mattered, but some might call what we were doing illegal. So while we were going in the others were going to stand guard around the perimeter. It wasn't easy choosing who were gonna go in, but in the end it was Lo, Con and Zak who
I covered her lips, distracting her as I removed her skirt and slid her panties down her thighs. "I love your kisses." I smiled down at her, not believing how happy I was just to be here with her like this even with the danger awaiting me. Maybe that was the lure of a good woman. What have made men fight and die for centuries. I pulled back and looked down at her spread out beneath me, my wanton princess. Her body was an astounding thing of beauty. And I made myself take the time look, to enjoy all that was mine. Though I had no real fear that I wouldn't come back to her, there was no sense in testing fate. I wanted the memory of her like this to carry with me. High firm breasts, flat concaved stomach, and slightly flared hips that cupped her pretty hairless pussy. Shapely thighs that had I taken the time to really look before I would've noticed were well toned and defined. Dancer's legs. I held her eyes with mine as I ran my hand over her heated fle
I caught up to him on one of the paths that lead to the beach where he stood waiting for me. "I know your mind went back there again and I know we've all told you more than once that your uncle was a piece of shit asshole who had no fucking brains." "Yes I think I've heard one or more of you say something along those lines a time or two." "Who do you trust brother?" "My brothers." "So why don't you believe us when it comes to this one thing? Put it away and put it away for good. You deserve the same happiness as everyone else and fuck anyone who says different." "Dani says she's in love with you." "Who Dani?" "No you fuck, Ariel. You know how these women talk, which is good for us that they get along so well, but that also means there are no secrets. It's going to be interesting when we get back home to the compound." "Anyway, she says the girl's in love with you and you'll be a fool to let anyone get in the way of that. I don't