by Susan Stoker
The room was quiet for a moment, everyone taking in what had just happened.
“Kason put this in my purse?” Jess whispered looking down at the innocent looking small black device in her hand incredulously. “But I thought he didn’t . . .”
“No, he wanted to,” Tex interrupted Jessyka before she could continue. “He called me about a week ago and said he wanted me to track you the same way I tracked everyone else. I refused.”
“Tex!” Summer admonished. “That’s mean!”
“Let me finish, darlin’. I refused because he hadn’t gotten your permission yet. I won’t ever track any of you women without you approving it. Benny was planning on talking to you about it, but then they got called away. He was in a panic because he hadn’t been able to talk to you yet and he didn’t want to rush it, but he also didn’t want to go on a mission and leave you vulnerable. I agreed to one tracking device in your purse. I’ve got all the others waiting to be set up for when he gets back home.”
“Why did he panic?” Jess asked, her words slurring a bit. She was obviously more drunk than she thought.
“Because every damn time they go on a mission it seems like one of you girls gets in trouble. So in order to prevent that from happening this time to you, Jess, he wanted you tracked before he left. Are you guys going to get in trouble this time? I swear to God, every time they leave I’m stuck to my chair making sure nothing goes wrong with you ladies.”
“Nothing’s going to go wrong!” Caroline told him with authority. Of course her statement would’ve been a bit more believable if she hadn’t hiccupped in the middle of it.
“Right. Okay, if ya’ll would just stay in that basement for the next whoever knows how long until they get home, I might believe it.”
“Tex! It’s not our fault. It’s the other assholes’ faults!” Fiona exclaimed.
Tex sighed. “Okay, Fee, you’re right. Jess?”
“Yeah?”
“Put the black thingie back in the side pocket of your purse and zip it up again. Make sure you take your purse with you whenever you go out…okay?”
Jess did as Tex asked, feeling a warm glow inside. Kason had wanted to make sure she was safe. It should’ve felt creepy, but instead it just felt good to know he cared that much.
“Now, pull out your phone, it’s why you guys called me in the first place.” He waited until Jessyka told him it was done. “Go to your contacts and look for my name.’”
Jess scrolled through, cursing when she accidently pushed too hard and pulled up a different contact. “Damn phone.” Finally she made it to the T’s and turned the phone around as if the girls would be able to read it from where they were sitting and as she drunkenly wiggled it around in the air. “Hey! Look guys! Tex is already in my phone!”
Tex just sighed over the connection. “Yeah, Benny programmed it in. Now you know. If you need anything, you call me. Okay?”
“Yeah.” Jess said it distractedly, thinking about when Kason might have taken her phone and programmed Tex into it without her knowing.
“Summer!” Tex barked out unexpectedly.
“Yeah?” Summer responded immediately.
“What’s my number?” Tex demanded.
Summer immediately recited ten numbers back to him.
“Fiona, your turn.”
Fiona dutifully also told him what he wanted to know, without looking up the number in her contact list.
Tex did this again with Caroline, Cheyenne and then Alabama. All three women didn’t hesitate and repeated his number back.
“Memorize my number, Jess,” Tex said seriously. “It’s important. People today don’t bother to learn anyone’s number anymore. What would you do if you didn’t have your phone but you needed to call someone? You’d be in trouble, that’s what. I’m going to call you back tomorrow night and you had better know it. I’m serious, Jess.”
“He is serious,” Cheyenne whispered in a stage whisper that was more of a shout than a whisper. “He did the same with me and when I couldn’t immediately give it to him he sicced Dude on me. And while I love what my man does to me, I don’t particularly like punishment spankings. I prefer the erotic ones.”
Jess looked at Cheyenne in disbelief.
Cheyenne giggled. “Too much information?”
“Jesus. Okay, I’m hanging up. Ya’ll had better not be planning on going anywhere tonight, you’re way too blitzed.”
“Don’t worry, Tex, we’re stayin’ in,” Caroline reassured him. “Thanks for talking to us. We love you!”
The other women all joined in the Tex lovefest until he finally hung up laughing.
“Is he really going to call me tomorrow?” Jess asked in disbelief.
“Yes!” all five women said at the same time.
“We’d better start practicing now so you have it down!” Cheyenne was completely earnest with her words.
They spent the next two hours laughing and giggling. Jess learned Tex’s number both forward and backward. Everyone agreed that her plan to recite it to him both ways the next night was genius.
Finally they wound down. Jess thought the night had been a blast.
“Thanks, you guys, for inviting me.”
“Thank you for coming over. We know we can be a bit over the top sometimes, but we love our men so much and we’re so lucky they all found cool as shit women. Can you imagine if one of us was stuck up and a pain in the ass?”
Everyone laughed at Caroline’s words, thinking about how awful it would be if one of them was mean.
Just as everyone was falling asleep, Fiona said into the darkness of the room, “It’s not fun being taken and not knowing if anyone knows where you are. You hit the nail on the head tonight, Jess. To know we have a man who’d do anything to protect us, to go so far as to want to make sure someone knows where we are every minute of every day just so they know we’re safe? It’s a dream come true and probably one of the only reasons we’re not curled into a fetal position on the floor, as you so elegantly put it. I’m sure other people would think it’s creepy and wouldn’t understand at all, but we all agree that it makes us feel safe instead of stalked.”
Jessyka was amazed at the amount of recall Fiona had of her words earlier that night. Her impression of the woman went up a notch, and it was already pretty high.
No one said a word and one by one they all fell asleep. Secure in the knowledge that while their men might not be in the same time zone, or even the same country, they were still being watched over by their very own guardian angel named Tex.
Chapter Twelve
All six of the SEALs let out a breath of relief as their plane touched down. They’d actually completed a mission without hearing from Tex that one of their women had been kidnapped, lost, tortured, or somehow otherwise hurt.
It seemed as if things were calming down for the group, and the men were thankful. Their women had all been through enough in their lives. It was about time they could just settle down and live a “normal” life.
“Jess found out about what you all did to Brian,” Benny commented to Wolf as they were getting ready to de-plane.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“And?”
“She was more concerned about you guys than him.”
“You keeping her?”
The question wasn’t completely unexpected, and Benny answered from the heart. “Hell yeah.”
“Good. Ice likes her.”
“What trouble do you think they got into while we were gone?”
“No idea, but it couldn’t have been anything horrible since we didn’t get yanked back by Tex.”
Benny and Wolf laughed together. As much as Wolf bitched about the trouble the women got into from time to time, they both knew he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“We meeting up at Aces tomorrow night?” Wolf asked loudly enough so all the guys could hear him.
Before anyone else could respond, Benny asked, “Can I check on Jess’s work schedul
e? I’d like for her to be able to be there as one of us, and not as our waitress.”
“Yeah, of course. Sorry, should’ve thought of that,” Wolf apologized.
“No big deal. I’ll let you all know in the morning. We’ll shoot for the first night she’s off, if that’s okay,” Benny told his friends.
The tarmac was deserted when they got off the plane, no one knew when they’d be returning, so none of the men expected a welcoming party.
The men walked briskly into the small building, ready to get the debrief over with so they could get home to the women who would be surprised, and happy, they were home and safe.
* * *
Jess thought she heard something and sat up in bed, her eyes straining to see through the darkness of the room. Before she could move or make a plan of action, she saw a shadow in the doorway. Jess threw herself off the side of the bed furthest from the door and landed hard on her hands and knees. The bed sheet tangled around her body and she fought to free herself before whoever it was in her room could get to her.
“Jesus, Jess, it’s me.”
Jessyka froze for a second, then every muscle in her body relaxed. She recognized that voice. “Kason?”
Then he was there. He picked her up off the floor, tangled sheet and all and sat on the side of the bed holding her in his arms. “Fuck, I’m sorry, gorgeous. Yeah, it’s me. We’re back.”
Jess hugged Kason has hard as she could and buried her face into his neck. Her heart was still beating a million miles an hour. Suddenly she leaned back and smacked him on the arm. “You scared the crap out of me!”
Benny let out a short laugh then got serious. “I’m sorry, Jess. Seriously. I’m not used to having someone waiting for me in my bed.”
“You should’ve texted me and let me know you were back.”
“You’re right, I should’ve and it won’t happen again,” Benny immediately agreed contritely. He buried his face into the side of her neck and breathed in her unique scent. “Fuck it’s good to be back. It’s even better to come home and see you in my bed.”
Benny relaxed his muscles and laid back on the bed, pulling Jess with him. She sat up, straddling his waist and looked down at him.
“I can’t see you. Are you okay? No new holes? Everyone else all right too?”
“No holes, gorgeous. We’re all fine. It was an easy in-and-out thing this time.”
“Thank God. I worried about you.”
“And I worried about you.” Benny paused, not knowing if he should really say what he was thinking, then decided he might as well. “It feels good to have someone to worry about and to be worried about in return.”
“Yeah.”
They lay on the bed for a moment before Benny sat up, taking Jess with him. “Okay, let me up and out of these clothes, then you can give me a proper welcome home . . . more proper than crawling around on the ground hiding from me.”
“Jerk,” Jessyka said laughing. “I wouldn’t have been crawling around on the floor if you’d let me know you were coming home.”
“Uh huh, give me a second and I’ll show you how sorry I am.”
Jess moved off his lap and felt Kason stand up. “Hurry up then, I’m feeling a need for you to apologize.” She heard him laugh and she scooted up on the bed so she’d be ready for him. Jess peeled off his T-shirt she’d been wearing to bed and waited. The mattress on the bed dipped and suddenly Kason was there.
Jess sighed in relief. She hadn’t lied. She had been worried about him, and it was the best feeling in the world to have him back in her arms. To be back in his arms. She had no idea how she’d thought for a moment what she had with Brian was love. The feelings she had for Kason were so much bigger. She felt like the luckiest woman ever.
* * *
“Hey!”
“Hi, Jess!”
“Yo!”
Jessyka smiled at the greetings she got from the girls. Most of the SEALs just did the manly chin-lift thing, but that was okay with her. “Hey, everyone! Great to see you!” Jessyka walked around and sat in the empty seat at the table. All the guys were there, along with their women as well. It was a lively group, and Jess was happy to be a part of it. She turned and smiled at Kason, who had sat next to her after pulling out her chair.
“Thanks for postponing this until tonight. I couldn’t get off before now.”
“Hey, thanks for agreeing to come. We know you work here just about every night, I’m sure it’s a pain to come on your night off,” Alabama told Jess with a smile.
“No biggie. I love this place.”
“Hey, Jess, can I take your order?” Jessyka looked up to see Ella, one of the waitresses at the bar standing by the table.
“Yeah, can I get an amaretto sour?”
“Sure thing.”
“Draft for you?” Ella asked, looking at Kason.
“Sounds good.”
Jess put her hand on Kason’s leg. She loved him. She hadn’t told him, but she supposed it was probably obvious. They hadn’t moved from their bedroom for at least a day after he’d gotten home. They’d ventured out to grab something to eat, but Kason had dragged her back to his bed as soon as they’d finished.
Between bouts of lovemaking, Kason had talked to her about his job, his friends, and about his upbringing. He’d reiterated how he wanted to buy a plot of land when he retired and enjoy his life away from people and their drama.
Jess had even brought up the subject of Tex and the tracking devices.
“The girls called Tex while I was at their house and brought up the tracking thingies,” Jess said cautiously. She didn’t want to assume anything.
Kason didn’t flinch. He continued to run his hand up and down her back as they lay together, both recovering from intense orgasms. “Yeah?”
Since Kason didn’t seem perturbed, Jessyka continued. “He told me about the one you put in my purse.”
“Yeah, I didn’t have time for more than that before I left. I meant to talk to talk to you as soon as I got back . . . but we got sidetracked.” Kason had grinned at her.
Jess bit her lip. She didn’t want to ask. If he wanted her to be safe, like the other women were, then he’d ask her about it.
“Hey.” Kason had seen her unease. He turned her on her back and loomed over her. “Are you upset about it?”
Jess shook her head and looked up at him.
“Okay, now’s as good a time as any to talk about this.” Kason had taken both her hands in his and pinned them above her head. He put his weight on her hips so she was immobile. “You mean more to me than anyone ever has in my entire life. If something happened to you, I don’t know what I’d do. I’ve seen enough evil in my life to be scared shitless at the thought of you disappearing and me not being able to find you. I want Tex to be able to find you with the push of a button if he needs to. Please tell me you’re okay with that.”
Jess thought about making him squirm, but the bottom line was she wanted that too. “I’m okay with that.”
“Thank Christ.”
The sex that followed had been amazing. Probably even more amazing than any other time before . . . and that was saying a lot. Needless to say, Jess thought it was pretty obvious they had deep feelings for each other. For now she was fine without the words, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to hold them back for long.
The conversation around the table at the bar was lively. The guys loved to tease each other about anything and everything. It was a side Jess had never seen, she’d only seen their friendliness and politeness to her as a waitress, and their concern for the women sitting next to them.
The subject of Benny’s nickname came up and Jess leaned in, eager to hear the story of how he got it. The other women had shared their men’s nicknames with her, but they’d all admitted to having no idea of how Benny got his name.
“So we’ve been thinking Benny, now that you have a woman of your own, it might be time to change up your nickname,” Wolf told him casually, absently running his fingers
over Caroline’s shoulders as he spoke.
“Yeah, we have a couple in mind, what about Chef? Or Lock, since you’re the fastest lock picker on the team?” Cookie asked Benny, taking a long pull of his beer.
“Sure, either of those would be great,” Benny answered enthusiastically.
“What about Stud, or Turtle, since you were the last to find yourself a woman?” Abe teased.
“No, I have it! Sloth!” Mozart joined in, laughing.
Benny was starting to figure out that the guys were just fucking with him . . . again.
“What the hell ever, assholes,” he murmured.
The guys all laughed.
“Face it, you’re never gonna live ‘Benny’ down,” Dude said, not unkindly.
“How did he get that nickname anyway?” Cheyenne dared to ask.
“We are not sharing that story!” Benny ordered his friends.
Wolf just smiled. “Well, it was one night when we were visiting this crappy bar in a small country in Africa . . .” His voice trailed off and he got a hard, angry look on his face as he looked toward the door of the bar.
As if in a Monty Python movie, everyone’s heads swiveled to see what Wolf was scowling at. Brian had just walked into the bar, along with a group of men.
Jess didn’t recognize any of the men that were with Brian, but she shivered anyway. She hated that Brian continued to come to the bar.
“What the fuck is he doing here?” Dude said angrily, voicing what everyone was thinking.
“He comes in all the time,” Jess told her friends softly.
Everyone’s heads swiveled around to now stare at Jessyka.
“He does?” Fiona asked. “But isn’t that . . . weird?”
“Yes, it’s fucking weird!” Benny exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he demanded from Jess.
“He hasn’t done anything. He just comes in with his friends and has a few drinks. I’ve always avoided serving them and he hasn’t caused any issues. He hasn’t even talked to me.”
“I don’t like it,” Benny said, frustration in his voice. “I don’t trust him.”
“Me either,” Wolf stated. “Maybe it’s time we had another word with him.”