by Kara Parker
Rose brings the binoculars down and begins to giggle. “I obviously have some more practicing to do.”
Touch hands her the weapon. “After you have shot as many rounds as I have, you will be able to do that too. But you are a natural at this. Keep practicing. I want you out here every day, rain or shine, shooting at least 250 rounds. Then, in a couple of days, you are going to have to start hitting moving targets. That’s when it gets really hard.”
“Great…” Rose mumbles.
“Don’t worry. I have faith in you.” Touch says.
“So do I,” Joseph adds from behind her.
“Now, if you are going to shoot, you are going to have to know how to clean your weapon,” Touch says, picking up the gun as the Nines begin to disperse. “First thing is…”
CHAPTER FOURTY
“How are you feeling?” Rose whispers as Joseph joins her in the bed. They had secured one of the only two queen size beds in the four small apartments the Nines had erected inside the clubhouse… apartments for new members to live in after first dropping out. They have one, while Gerry and Samantha Gredle, the married couple, the other. The other two apartments, with single beds, are empty. It has been decided that they would be used as needed when extra sleep or a moment of privacy is needed. The apartments are nothing fancy, nothing more than a bedroom, small kitchen, and a tiny bath. But at least they have walls… even if they don’t have a ceiling other than the warehouse roof high above their heads.
The rest of the Nines are spread out in the clubhouse, various cars and boxes arranged to afford as much privacy as possible. It had not gone unnoticed by Rose that Touch had managed to secure the berth next to Melina’s.
“I hurt, Rose,” Joseph groans.
“I’m sorry,” she says, kissing the angry bruise on his chest with the lightest possible touch.
“Yeah. Me too. But as you said last night, I guess I should be thankful that I’m alive to hurt.”
“Yes. Can you spoon me?” Rose asks, wanting to feel Joseph’s touch.
“On the left side, I think,” he replies.
Rose moves to the other side of the bed and lies down, turning her back to Joseph so he can cuddle in close, his knees tucked in behind hers, his chest at her back. As his arms slide around her, pulling her to him, she sighs in contentment. She’s tired, the stress of the day and the lack of sleep the night before wearing on her. “When do you think the attack will come?”
“I don’t know. Soon. Probably in the next three or four days, I would guess. But we really don’t have any way to know.”
“As soon as Touch says I’m ready, I want to go into the rotation for the snipers.”
“Rose…”
“No. I mean it, Joseph. There is no point in my learning to shoot if you don’t use me. It isn’t going to take long before everyone is stressed out. The more people we can put out there, the longer we can hold out.
“You don’t have to do this. This isn’t your fight.”
“It became my fight when they tried to kill you.”
Joseph sighs. She’s right, of course, but that doesn’t mean he has to like it. “Fine. You’ll make number eight. That gives us four teams of two.”
“I won’t let you down,” she says softly.
“That’s not what I’m worried about.”
***
The next three days Rose trains hard, shooting hundreds of rounds and working with Touch to learn concealment. At the end of the fourth day, when he walks right past her as she hides, she says, “Bang… you’re dead.” It causes him to start, laugh, and declare her graduated.
“Excuse me! May I have everyone's attention!” Touch calls that evening at dinner, standing up and raising his hands. As the group falls quiet, he continues. “Today I would like to announce the latest member to join the sniper team! Rose, stand up please.”
Blushing furiously, Rose rises to her feet beside Touch. Now she knows why he insisted she sit next to him.
“In honor of your graduation to sniper, I present you with this coveted award. Wear it proudly,” he says as he pins a tiny plastic rifle glued to a safety pin to her shirt.
As everyone cheers and claps, Rose tries not to embarrass herself by crying. The barrel of the gun is bent and it looks like something you would get out of gum machine, but she wouldn’t trade that silly little pin for anything in the world. “Thank you,” she says, her face twisting as she struggles not to cry.
“She needs a name,” Touch calls.
The nicknames begin to fly, but then Touch hears one that grabs his attention. “Whoa, whoa! Wait… what was that?” he asks, pointing in the general direction of where he heard the name.
“Athena,” Melina calls again. “Goddess of justice and war.”
“Athena,” Touch says, trying the name on for size, then smiles. “Athena... Be ready to go tomorrow morning… eleven am. You relieve Longbow.”
Rose wipes at her eyes as everyone claps and roars in support. She looks at Joseph next to her and he is beaming at her, clapping furiously until she bends to kiss him.
“Tonight,” he whispers as she pulls back, and she feels herself flush in anticipation.
After the meal, Melina pulls Rose aside. “I’m so proud of you!” Melina says, wrapping Rose up in a hug.
“Thank you. I was always kind of afraid of guns, but I found out I really like shooting one. Every time I hit the target I get this little thrill.”
“Maybe I will get Mark to show me how to shoot.”
“I think you should. I’m sure he would love to teach you.”
Melina looks down at her feet and smiles. “He’s really sweet. He’s in the room next to mine.”
“So I noticed.”
Melina smirks. “I figured you would. Anyway, what I wanted to tell you is that now you are on the sniper team, I don’t need you helping in the kitchen anymore.”
“I don’t mind. In fact I rather enjoy it.”
“If you want to help with dinner, that’s fine. But you don’t have to. Nobody expects you to do double duty. You have to be sharp out there and if you are exhausted from trying to do too much, you won’t be able to do what you need to do.”
“Thanks, Melina. I may skip now and then, but I do enjoy cooking for everyone.”
“Okay. Just make sure you get enough rest. That’s all I’m saying. Jennifer, Paul, Samantha, and I can cover it.”
“How’s the food holding out?”
Melina tuts at her. “That’s not your concern. It’s fine. We’re going to have to restock soon, but not yet.”
Rose grins. “Okay, you’re right. It’s just hard for me to let go sometimes.”
“No! Really?” Melina teases. “How’s Joseph? He looks like he feels better. I noticed tonight he isn’t walking all slumped over any more.”
“He’s doing a lot better. You should see the bruises! They’re terrible! But you can touch them now without him swearing at you,” Rose says with a grin. “The last few nights have been interesting. I bumped him in the middle of night the first night here. He didn’t scream, but he nearly peeled the paint off the walls with the cussing.”
Melina twitters a laugh. “I guess so. Greg told me he’s lucky that he didn’t have any broken bones. He said getting shot with armor on is like being hit with a baseball bat. The armor stops the bullet, but the energy has to go somewhere.”
“I believe it. Joseph’s chest and back are just one big black, blue, purple, and yellow splotch,” Rose says, then makes a face, sticking her tongue out.
“At least he will heal,” Melina says, her face sad but her eyes dry.
“Yes. He’s lucky. I’m lucky.”
“What’s your shift? Eleven until…?”
“Five. We do six-hour shifts. I get the easy duty to start with. Daylight for the entire shift.”
“Well, you are the rookie. I guess they’re breaking you in easy.”
“That… or they didn’t want me shooting one of the good guys in the dark,”
Rose laughs.
“I guess that makes sense.”
“Yeah. I have the feeling Touch knows what he is doing.”
“Actually, Rose, I have the feeling everyone knows what they are doing. I don’t think the Matos Cartel knows what they are walking into.”
“Good,” Rose says with an evil grin.
“Agreed,” Melina adds with a nasty smirk of her own.
CHAPTER FOURTY-ONE
“I’m very proud of you.” Joseph says as he slips into the bed with Rose. “Touch says you have the gift.”
Rose snickers. “That’s what Melina said too. I’m not sure what the fuss is all about. It’s not that hard.”
“Did I tell you that Touch trained me?”
“No. Are you going back into the rotation soon?”
“No. I’m not in the rotation.”
“Why not?”
“Because I can’t do it. I’m not good enough. I can’t hit the target reliably at the long ranges, and I can’t stay still. I make too much noise.”
“You’re kidding!”
“No. I’m not kidding. That’s why Touch says you have the gift. Not everyone can do what you do. Why do you think there are only eight of you? If everyone could do it, we would all be out there.”
Rose ponders that for a moment. “I still have a ways to go to be as good as him.”
“None of us are as good as him. But he trained, every day, for years to get that good. You’ve been doing it a week. Not even a week.”
“It was all fun and games until now. I hope I don’t screw up when I’m out there tomorrow.”
“Just do what Touch taught you and you will be fine.”
“I don’t want to let anyone down.”
“Shhh… that’s no different than any of the rest of us. Just do your best. That’s all any of us can do.”
Rose is quiet a moment, basking in her love for him. “The Nines… they’re lucky to have you leading them.”
Joseph makes a derisive noise.
“I’m serious. You’re a natural leader. Everyone respects you and you care for them.”
“I hope that’s enough.”
“It will be. I don’t think the Matos Cartel is going to know what hit them.”
“From your lips to God’s ear.”
“Maybe… but how about my lips to yours?” she asks quietly.
He smiles in the darkness. “That, I’m pretty sure, will happen.”
“When?”
Joseph doesn’t answer but she almost immediately feels his lips touch hers. It is so dark in the clubhouse that she can only determine his location through touch.
“That’s nice,” she murmurs as he pulls back. “Are you sure you feel up to more?” They have snuggled, and kissed, but they haven’t been physical since he had been shot.
“We’ll have to careful, but I think so. And quiet. No screaming like last time,” he teases.
Rose snickers. “As I recall, I wasn’t the only one to get loud.”
“Okay… I promise to be quiet if you will.”
“Promise,” Rose breathes as her lips close over his once more. She tries to mount him, to lie on his chest as she enjoys so much, but he gently steers her to her back and settles lightly across her as they kiss. She wraps her arms around him, being careful to not pull too hard, holding him in the kiss.
He breaks the kiss, slowly pulling back from her lips as he begins to kiss her cheeks with fleeting touches of his lips. He works his way down the side of her mouth, moving to her neck, then to the spot under her ear that she likes so well.
“Yes…” she sighs, the touch of his lips causing her desire to swell. She turns her head, offering her lips to him in the darkness, but he continues to work his way down her body. He pauses at her breast, kissing gently before his tongue laps lazily at her nipple. After he teases the point erect, he presses the tender hardness against his teeth, scraping it gently between hard tooth and soft tongue.
Rose sighs deeply as Joseph subjects her to all manner of delightful tortures… his soft, sucking kisses and delicate bites at her breast making her want to squirm. She takes his head, pulling him from her breast and bringing his lips to hers once more. As their tongues embrace she pushes on him, steering him between her legs before wrapping him up, placing her hands on his sides to cause as little pain or discomfort as possible while she holds him tight.
He allows her to position him with the lightest of touches. And though he wants her, he isn’t quite ready to begin the final dance, wanting to enjoy this moment with her a little longer. He lowers himself, pressing his hardness between them and then slowly begins to thrust, allowing his dripping cock to lubricate his passage.
As Joseph’s manhood slides between them she gasps as he presses on her pussy, the feel of his movement sending delectable tingles coursing through her. With a near inaudible moan of pleasure, the kiss they are sharing begins to deepen as they are swept away.
“I love you, Rose,” he whispers, reluctantly pulling his lips from hers. “I was so afraid for you when they were shooting at us,” he continues as his lips find their way to her neck. “I will never…”
“I love you,” she says, talking over him while pulling his lips into her neck. “Shhhh… It’s alright now. We’re both alright,” she whispers, trying to quiet his fears. “I will always be here for you. Always.”
He adjusts his position and then slowly enters her, their breaths of pleasure joining with their bodies. He moves slowly, reveling in the love and closeness of this incredible woman... then begins to increase the speed and power of his thrusts as Rose draws him down tight, her hands sliding from his sides to his back.
She can feel her breathing speeding up as he drives into her with hard, swift thrusts, his lips busy on her neck, caressing her skin in the spot she likes so well. All her pent-up fear and desire, the exhilaration of making love to him once more, causes her orgasm to bloom out of nowhere, wrapping her in its warms folds as she gasps softly.
Rose slips quietly into her orgasm and Joseph shudders with a soft groan, her breathy pants as she holds tightly to him stripping him of control. With a final hard thrust he spills his essence deep within her before relaxing with a soft sigh of completion. He can’t see her face in the inky darkness but he can sense her smile. “I love you, Rose,” he breathes as he kisses her.
Rose sighs, a contented smile playing on her lips. She has had many orgasms harder than this one, but damn few more emotionally and physically satisfying. “I love you too. More now than ever.”
“Promise me you will be careful tomorrow.”
“I promise.”
“If anything were to happen to you, I…”
“Shhh… nothing is going to happen to me. Don’t worry,” she whispers, holding his head to her chest.
“I can’t help but worry,” he replies, listening to the thudding of her heart.
“That’s sweet. But you have twenty-eight others to worry about. Let me worry about me.”
“That’s a lot easier said than done,” he says, rolling carefully to his back.
“I know. But you have to. You and Steven have to make sure everyone is ready. You can’t do that if you are worried about one person... even if it is me,” she says, settling into the crook of his arm, wiggling just a bit to get comfortable in the snuggle.
CHAPTER FOURTY-TWO
“Longbow… Rose—I mean Athena—coming up on your nine o’clock,” she murmurs into the tiny radio, repeating what she has been instructed to say.
“Yeah. I hear you,” Longbow’s voice says in her ear.
Athena winces. She’s moving as quietly as she can, as Touch instructed her, but compared to him she is like a bull in a china shop.
Touch had brought her out yesterday to show her where to set up, but now, alone, she’s not entirely sure of her location, or where she is supposed to stop. All the trees look the same. “Athena! Stop!”
Rose freezes, then issues a little squeak of surprise when Cedric
, call name Longbow, uncovers right in front of her. “Shit! I nearly stepped on you!” she whispers as she crouches down.
Longbow grins at her. “You’re still green. You’ll get it. But seriously, you need to practice your moving. You sound like a herd of elephants.”