by Desiree Holt
Damn! He had to stop this. He was losing his grip here.
“I see Teo got the beer out?” he commented as he jogged down the stairs and out to the porch.
The men had dumped their gear in their respective rooms and were already out there waiting for him.
“Yeah,” Trey joked. “We’re trying to save you some, but you know how it goes.”
Slade glanced around, realizing one of the team was absent. “Be right back,” he told them.
Slade knocked on the door of the room Marc had dropped his things in. He’d wanted to give the man a moment to himself on the off chance he’d come on downstairs and join them, but it seemed he needed either prodding or dragging. Slade had hoped with such a peaceful setting, surrounded by the natural beauty of Texas ranchland, with a gorgeous sunset painting the sky, he’d feel relaxed. Maybe even looking forward to the ten days here. But nothing relaxed him anymore. While the rest of them kicked back and did whatever, Marc, the team’s weapons and demolitions expert, often used his downtime in practice and refresher training. Considering the state of his personal life, Slade was glad the man was a disciplined soldier, committed to the job.
“Yeah?”
Slade pushed the door open. Marc stood at the window looking out at the scene below.
“Okay to come in?”
Marc shrugged. “It’s your house.”
“Hey, guy. That doesn’t mean you can’t have privacy.”
If anyone asked Slade he’d say the man had too much privacy. Too much time to think about the dark place he couldn’t seem to get out of. A place where the image of his naked wife, high on the drugs he hadn’t known she was addicted to, was riding their equally naked neighbor and screaming with pleasure. He once told Slade, in a rare moment of confidence, he wished he could bleach his mind to erase that scene that played over and over like a video on a loop.
‘That’s what I got for letting my cock tell me what to do instead of listening to my brain.’
Slade knew some of the background. When Marc had met Ria, he’d been stunned by her beauty and swept away by her vivacious personality. Naturally quiet and introspective himself, he’d nevertheless been drawn to her at once. His total dedication to Delta Force had precluded any type of lasting relationship. Until then. She’d told him she loved him and had made him believe it. The sex had been unbelievable, so hot it had scorched the air around them. When he’d had leave time between missions, he hadn’t been able to get home fast enough to immerse himself in his incredible wife. The fact that she had chosen him when, he was sure, she could have any man she’d wanted, was in itself an aphrodisiac.
Slade and the other team members had met her, at a dinner where he’d proudly showed her off. None of the team members, including Slade, had been too enthusiastic about her, but that hadn’t bothered Marc.
“You’re just jealous,” he’d ground out.
Then the roof had fallen in and his life had come apart. The scene he’d walked in on had been bad enough. He’d managed to control his rage to not kill the guy when he’d tossed them out into the street. But when he’d realized she’d been high on drugs rather than alcohol, he’d done a thorough search of the house, including her personal belongings, and found baggies filled with multicolored pills.
He’d called Slade, because he’d been out of his mind. Insane. Especially when he’d learned she’d been doing that for a long time, both the drugs and screwing anything with a dick. He’d been torn between wanting to kill her and kill himself. Slade had talked him down off the ledge and waited while he’d packed his things—not too many, he traveled light—and had walked him out of the apartment and out of her life. He’d found him an attorney who had told Marc to do whatever was needed to get a divorce fast.
He’d asked Slade not to ever bring it up again and had spent the rest of his leave holed up in a motel room, trying not to drink himself to death.
Slade wasn’t an emotional person, but his heart ached for Marc, so damaged by a selfish, insane woman. He often wondered if Marc would ever get back to the point where he wanted to rejoin the living.
Now Slade cleared his throat. “Heavy thoughts there, Eagle. Admiring the great view?”
Marc turned, his mouth stretched in an imitation of a smile. “Just giving my brain a rest. Give me five and I’ll be right along.”
“I’ll hold you to it. Beer’s cold, so come on down.”
Swallowing a sigh, he left the room and headed downstairs. He could already hear the others on the back porch where he’d left them. Maybe, just maybe ten days at the ranch would be the first step toward Marc regaining his sanity and equilibrium.
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About the Author
A multi-published, award winning, Amazon and USA Today best-selling author, Desiree Holt has produced more than 200 titles and won many awards. She has received an EPIC E-Book Award, the Holt Medallion and many others including Author After Dark’s Author of the Year. She has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and in The Village Voice, The Daily Beast, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The London Daily Mail. She lives in Florida with her cats who insist they help her write her books, and is addicted to football.
Desiree loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website details and author profile page at https://www.totallybound.com