by Terry Poole
The men stayed on high alert, constantly sighting down the barrels of their weapons, searching in all directions for threats in the jungle around them. At one point, another man joined their group carrying a very impressive rifle slung over his shoulder. Another smaller but just as deadly looking rifle was in his hands.
Nathan had no idea how long they traveled in single file through the dense foliage. Between tripping and nearly falling with Maria in his arms and slapping aside countless broad leaves and vines before they could hit either him or Maria in the face, it was steadily becoming torture. To protect her, he simply tucked her face into his shoulder. A pair of odd goggles was suddenly handed to him. It was not an easy feat to put them on one-handed but he managed it and did it ever make a difference. He could plainly see all the little hazards he couldn’t before. Looking quickly over his shoulder, he saw that Luis also sported a pair of the goggles.
It wasn’t long before they stepped into a small clearing. The first thing Nathan noticed was an odd shaped tent sort of thing. He probably would have missed it entirely if they hadn’t come out of the jungle where they had, almost on top of the object.
The slender man just ahead of Nathan pulled the hat off his head with one hand and vigorously rubbed his bright hair with the other before calling out to the tent.
“Cher, we are here.”
Not a man then, the feminine tone was unmistakable.
The large man who had led them through the jungle rapped on the side of the tent. “All clear, Pipsqueak.”
“Hey, guys,” came a familiar voice from behind the camo-colored fabric.
Nathan’s jaw dropped as his brother’s face peered out at them from the canvas at one end.
Son-of-a-bitch. “Brendan! What the fu-dge are you doing here?” Nathan remembered almost too late not to swear out loud with children there.
“Good to see you too, Nathan.” Brendan gave him a cocky grin as he awkwardly climbed out of the tent contraption he had been inside. “What? You think I could stand by and let the terminator squad here go without me? Not likely.” He snorted as he grabbed Nathan in a tight one-sided hug.
“I was so damn worried about you,” Brendan murmured brokenly into Nathan’s ear.
“I’m really glad to see you too, Brendan.”
Brendan stepped back, holding Nathan at arm’s length and giving him an intense scrutiny. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“And who is this little darling?” Brendan asked, smiling down at Maria who stared at him with huge eyes.
“This is Maria. Her brother Luis watched out for me.”
“Luis?”
Nathan nodded, he looked over his shoulder to see Luis anxiously watching him and Brendan, goggles hanging off his wrist like a bracelet. Nathan beckoned Luis over. Jesus was still curled up in his arms, the exhausted child was fast asleep and completely oblivious to the goings on around him.
“Brendan, this is Luis and the little guy is Maria’s other brother, Jesus.”
Luis extended a hand to Brendan who shook it with a grin. “Thank you for watching out for Nathan.”
“It was my honor.”
Brendan tipped his head, looking at Jesus’s sleeping face. “Awe, this little guy is all tuckered out.”
Luis hefted Jesus but other than giving a small breathy sigh, the little boy stayed sleeping. “He has been through much lately.” Luis nodded toward Maria. “They both have.”
“No.” Nathan shook his head, correcting Luis. “You all have.”
Nathan knew Brendan’s sharp eyes took in their bedraggled condition as he scanned the three of them. The children were thin with ratty clothes and sallow skin. It all spoke loudly of what they must have endured.
Brendan gave Maria a huge grin and bow. “Well, little darlin’, I am very pleased to meet you,” he said to her.
Maria glanced up at Nathan who motioned his head in Brendan’s direction. “This silly man is my brother Brendan, your new uncle.”
Brendan snapped his gaze over to Nathan. “Uncle? Is there maybe something you need to tell me?” he asked as he straightened, giving Nathan a pointed look.
“Yeah. We really do need to talk but first I have to find Kelly.” So preoccupied with Brendan, Nathan had lost track of Kelly. He scanned the small clearing, searching for Kelly and finally spotted him pushing his way out of the jungle.
He turned to Luis. “Luis, would you watch the children for a minute? It’s very important that I speak to Kelly right now.”
“Of course.”
Brendan held out his hands for Maria instead of letting Nathan pass her to Luis. “Would you like to get to know your silly uncle better?”
Maria glanced at Nathan who nodded his encouragement. She moved into Brendan’s arms as G stepped up to them and gave Brendan a kiss on the cheek.
“It is all right now, cher. Nathan is free and not injured. We can relax for a few minutes then go meet our ride. Oui?” She held foil juice pouches out to Luis and Maria. “I don’t know about you but I could use something to drink. I have apple and orange juice. Interested?”
“Juice pouches?”
“Qui, cher. They are portable, and filled with goodness for both children and adults, no matter the situation.”
In other words, they all needed the sugar and nutrients the juice contained, which made sense to him. Nathan smiled at the group as G punched straws into the pouches and handed them to Luis and Maria. Nathan approached Kelly but as Kelly reached for him, Nathan backed away. Nathan winced at the hurt in Kelly’s expression. As desperately as he wanted to be held in Kelly’s arms, he had to tell Kelly the truth and let Kelly decide if he still wanted him now that he came with baggage in the form of two small children and one young man. The thought that Kelly would reject him formed a tight knot in his belly. Nathan knew it would break him but he would still be the best papa he could be for the children.
Fear stealing his tongue, he wordlessly took Kelly’s hand and led Kelly off to the side of the clearing, putting as much distance between them and the rest of the group as he could. Nathan faced Kelly who gave him a concerned look as he took a deep lungful of air and courage.
Chapter Seven
Kelly pushed his way through the thick plants trying to hinder him. After a quick but thorough recon to make sure they weren’t being followed, he felt he could rejoin the group without worry.
Nathan stood with the children in the clearing and Kelly paused to watch them for a minute, his soul drinking Nathan in. They looked good together…like a family.
Before Kelly had a chance to approach them, Nathan had spotted him and given the little girl to Brendan. G joined them, handing out juice to the little girl and the young man. Good. They would need the boost the juice would give them before the next leg of their journey.
Nathan swiftly approached him and Kelly attempted to drag Nathan into his arms where he belonged. Immediately, Nathan sidestepped Kelly’s attempt and pulled back.
Kelly could only stare at him in shock. Nathan refused to meet his gaze, which sent Kelly’s emotions rioting all over the place. What was going on? Why didn’t Nathan want to get close to him? Was it because of the others in the group? Hell, they all understood his need to reconnect, to hold the man he loved more than life itself. The man he would do anything to keep safe. They had even turned their backs to the two of them to give them a semblance of privacy.
Reaching forward, Nathan grabbed Kelly’s hand, dragging him unresisting to the far edge of the clearing. He stood there facing Kelly, nerves plainly eating him up as he gazed at the ground. Fear ran icy fingers up Kelly’s spine. Something was very wrong. Nathan hauled in a lungful of air, obviously preparing himself to say something very important but Kelly interrupted him.
“This first.”
Without giving Nathan a chance to escape, Kelly cupped Nathan’s face firmly and drew him down into a kiss. A deep, wet cl
aiming. Nathan hesitated at first then slowly sagged into him, snaking his arms around Kelly’s waist. Relief filled Kelly. At least Nathan was still responding to him, maybe still wanted him. Releasing his face but not his lips, Kelly pulled Nathan against his body, holding him tightly. His shoulder still throbbed but he could deal with it. Right now, having Nathan close was more important.
“I needed that.” Kelly sighed against Nathan’s lips before diving in again for one more taste. Nathan opened eagerly for him before he dropped whatever bomb he had to say.
Noise in the distance had Kelly reluctantly drawing away but not letting go of the man he loved so desperately. No matter what, Nathan would know that Kelly loved him unconditionally. There was nothing, absolutely nothing that Nathan could say which would turn Kelly off or drive Kelly away.
“Kelly, I need to talk to you.”
“All right.”
Nathan reluctantly stepped out of Kelly’s arms as if he needed to put space between them, his expression anxious. What was he going to say? The air froze in Kelly’s lungs as a worst-case scenario suddenly flooded his mind. No.
“Were you raped?” he asked softly, hesitantly, afraid to press.
“What? No! Nothing like that!”
Kelly felt like a weight had lifted off his chest until Nathan began to pace in front of Kelly, unable to meet his gaze. Kelly gave him a minute to gather his thoughts, watching Nathan closely.
“It has to do with the children.”
“The children?”
Nathan gave a short, sharp jerk of his head. “You heard what Danna said. They have no father and no mother.” He stopped short.
Hugging himself, Nathan chewed his bottom lip, staring intently at Kelly, his eyes wide and pleading. “I know what it’s like to be unwanted, hurt by your parents. Those kids have been through so much pain and abuse but they are still so sweet and good-natured.”
He began to tremble and as much as Kelly wanted to gather Nathan into his arms again, he knew he had to wait for Nathan to say what was eating him up inside. Although, Kelly was beginning to suspect that he already knew what Nathan was trying so hard to put into words.
“They need me and I think…I think I need them too.”
Nathan dropped his gaze, focusing on the ground again, and swallowed hard. “I want to be their papa and I want you to be their dad. Brendan knows people who can fast-track the adoption process. I know we talked about having kids in a few years but…” Nathan paused as his voice began to wobble. “But if you don’t want to be their dad, I completely understand. I mean it’s a huge responsibility and…”
“That’s enough.” Kelly stepped up to Nathan and pressed a finger to Nathan’s lips. Nathan looked at him with his brown eyes growing very large. Kelly could see the tentative hope shining in them.
“Did you think I’d abandon them? Abandon you?” Kelly clasped Nathan on either side of his face, thumbs rubbing his cheekbones. “You are still a foolish man with not enough faith in himself or me. I love you, Nathan Kirkfield. You are everything to me. My only reason for getting up in the morning is knowing that you will be the first thing I see. I need your beautiful eyes to be the last thing I see at night. In a month, we will vow, ‘’til death do us part’.” He shrugged. “According to Granda, if it’s true love, and it is, there’s no ‘’til death’ parting, ever. You are mine and I am yours…forever.”
Kelly pressed a soft kiss to Nathan’s trembling lips. “Besides, could you just imagine our mothers dressing the kids for the wedding? It would kind of cool to have our daughter in a little bridesmaid dress throwing flowers and our son in a tiny tux carrying both rings on a pillow down the aisle.”
Nathan’s eyes were shiny as he searched Kelly’s face before a smile spread across his mouth until he was fully beaming at Kelly, tears slowly tracking down his cheeks.
“W-what did I do to ever deserve you? I love you so much.” Nathan grabbed Kelly’s head and devoured his mouth, molding his body fully to Kelly’s from shoulder to thigh as if he couldn’t get enough contact between them.
A deep groan rumbled up from Kelly’s throat as Nathan rubbed sinuously up against him like a cat. The man could make Kelly instantly hard, aching for him just by walking into the room. What hope did he have of resisting when Nathan melted any control he had without even trying? But when Nathan did try, he brought Kelly to his knees.
He wished they weren’t so exposed to the rest of the team. Gripping Nathan’s hips, he angled them away from their direct view and slid his free hand down the front of Nathan’s body until he reached the zipper to Nathan’s pants.
It was Nathan’s turn to moan as Kelly inched his zipper down and freed his hard and leaking cock, shielding his actions with their bodies. Pulling his own out, he gripped the two of them together causing them both to give a full body shudder. Kelly began to caress them from base to crown, collecting the pre-cum off their cockheads on every upstroke to ease the way.
Nathan’s head dropped to Kelly’s shoulder then he nuzzled into Kelly’s neck. He licked behind Kelly’s ear then grasped the sensitive flesh between his teeth.
“Baby…” Kelly sighed, feeling his balls draw up tight to his body as Nathan ignited a familiar fire in his veins. It felt so good to have his man in his arms again, safe and sound.
Tilting his head so that he could capture Nathan’s lips again, Kelly ran his thumb over the head of Nathan’s cock, dipping into the slit. Feeling Nathan begin to tremble and his cock harden even more, signaling Nathan’s imminent orgasm, Kelly stroked them harder, firmer while his tongue caressed Nathan’s mouth. He swallowed down Nathan’s cry as Nathan stiffened, his cock swelled and warmth flowed over Kelly’s hand. Immediately, Kelly followed him. His climax barreled over him in a wave of intense pleasure that he only felt in Nathan’s arms.
After a few moments, Kelly dug into one of the many pockets in his vest and dug out the small packet of wet wipes he always carried. He cleaned them both up and tucked Nathan and himself back into their pants. Then he just held Nathan tightly, feeling for the first time in a while like he could finally breathe.
“Excuse me, guys?”
They both looked up as Cookie interrupted them.
“Sorry to bother you but, Doc, can you spare a minute? One of the team got hurt and needs some medical assistance.”
Nathan separated from Kelly and turned to Cookie. “Of course. Who is it?”
“Me,” Cookie gasped out before his eyes rolled back into his head and he crumbled to the ground in a heap.
“Shit. Manny!” Kelly called out. “I need help here. Man down.”
All heads lifted. Both Moose and Manny scrambled to their feet and rushed in Kelly and Nathan’s direction, quickly followed by the rest of the team. Luis stayed back with the children which was clever thinking on his part. The kids didn’t need to see this.
Nathan dropped to his knees beside Cookie’s prone body and immediately went to work on him, searching for the wound. Nathan was amazing to watch when he did what he was trained to do, what he was born to do. He quickly straightened Cookie out and went over his lower body, his long surgeon’s fingers deftly running over Cookie. The man was out cold, which was probably a good thing.
“Steven’s breathing is good. His pants have blood, a lot of blood, soaked in them on the left side but no wound. It must be higher up.”
“Let me help.” Manny moved in on the other side.
He and Nathan undid and stripped the tac vest off Cookie, one shoulder at a time. The dark Kevlar fabric was also soaked on the one side. Carefully unhooking the Velcro straps, the two men pushed it aside and rather than removing the undershirt, Nathan accepted the scissors Manny handed him and quickly cut the fabric away from the wound. Cookie’s entire left side was saturated with blood coming from a bullet hole in his lower abdomen.
“Damn it. Only Cookie would manage to get hit just under the edge of the tac vest. A bloody one in a million freak shot,” Moose groused.
�
��Yeah,” Manny added. “But how long has he been bleeding? His clothes are soaked.”
Manny and Nathan shifted Cookie so Nathan could examine his back then laid him back down. He looked up at Kelly. “It’s a through and through. Since the smaller hole is in the back, that’s the entry point. From what I can tell the bullet missed all his organs and tore through muscle. The tightness of the vest probably helped him from bleeding out sooner. That’s the good news. The bad news is, I need to stitch this up and he needs a transfusion badly. He’s lost a hell of a lot of blood.”
“Can he be moved to a cot?” Brendan asked.
“Yeah, it would be better to get him off the ground.”
“Get him over here then. I’ve already got the tent part of this thing down.” Brendan directed them.
“Careful, don’t jostle him too much,” Nathan cautioned as he pressed the torn parts of the man’s shirts against the two wounds.
“It’s cool, Doc. We know the drill,” Frodo answered him as they lifted Cookie in unison and carried him over to the cot.
As soon as Cookie was on the cot, Manny dived for the heavier pack near the foot of the cot and pulled out a large bag with a Red Cross symbol on it. Kelly knew what he was going for. The kit was standard issue on any op and at one time or another they had all become very familiar with the contents of this pack.
Manny tore open the Velcro closure and began digging inside it. He gave Nathan wipes to clean the blood off his hands before passing him a pair of surgical gloves. He repeated the procedure with himself before donning a second pair. Manny took out a packet of gauze that he ripped open and Nathan immediately pressed it to the hole in Cookie’s back. Then Manny pulled out a pad laying it on the ground between himself and Nathan. He arranged a sterile suture kit, length of hose, needles and a blood typing kit on the pad.