by April Zyon
“I can’t believe she didn’t even know my name,” Victor said. “Given her reaction to us in the living room, I would have thought she’d at least have paid enough attention for that.”
“She had a bit of a headache, apparently. But she’s feeling a hell of a lot better now.”
“Not as good as she’ll feel later,” Victor said quietly.
“Dudayav, Victor Dudayav, right?” she asked him with a smile. “Are you going to touch me as well?” There went that tongue again. Son of a bitch, that little pink tongue of hers was killing James.
A deep chuckle came from behind James before Victor moved in close enough to touch her. “You ready for another round of deep, dark, and sometimes titillating secrets, Ms. St. John? If the answer’s yes, then grab hold of me.”
James was vigilant as she stepped in closer to Victor. He watched her examine him and saw her reach up to touch Victor’s neck. He had a feeling he knew what she would see as Victor’s truths, and there went that tongue again. “Victor,” James heard her all but moan. “God, the things you and James want to do to me. With me. I can’t wait.”
There was truth there, ultimate and complete truth in her tone. Both men wanted her naked and in their bed, the sooner the better. She had likely seen their attraction to her when they’d read her file, and now she would also know her feelings of need and desire were returned. The immediate attraction was a gift from the gods between the Descendants and the Heroes of Olympus.
“Glad you approve, sweetheart. First things first, though. There’s a whole herd of men downstairs waiting on us to join them for a meal. Get yourself together and then we’ll go eat. After dinner, we can discuss all the various ideas James and I have for what we’d like to do to you and with you.” Victor pressed a kiss to her forehead and then stepped back. “Come on, Nolan and Owen made up one hell of a meal for us all.”
“Men who cook. I just can’t get over that. I’ve never met a man who could cook.” James could see her pulling in on herself right before his eyes. There was something about the way she grew colder, the way that she moved, that reminded James of someone. He just couldn’t think of who.
Sharing a look with Victor, he saw the same puzzlement on the man’s face. For the moment, though, there was food on the table waiting for them. “Come on, ma’am. Let’s get you fed, and later we’ll talk more about all sorts of things.” Putting a hand on the small of her back, James urged her from the room.
Chapter Five
Kasper looked at the men around the table and took another bite of the food. She was between James and Victor, both men sitting as close to her as they possibly could. “Thank you, by the way, for cooking. I’ll help with the cleanup, since you all cooked.”
From time to time, she found herself touching either James or Victor, the need to touch them driving her hard, and that was odd behavior for her.
The others around the table seemed oblivious about what seemed to be going on between her and the two men. Both Victor and James seemed to be behaving as they normally would, joking, laughing, and telling tall tales with the rest of the group. There was plenty of humor, and the stories kept getting bigger and wilder as the meal went on.
“All right, you jokers,” one of them said finally. He got to his feet with a grin on his face. “Nolan made dessert as well, so everyone grab a dish and let’s get the table clear. I’ll get coffee on so we can all chill out back on the sweet deck the lady has and enjoy it under the stars. Dishes can wait until later to be washed,” he said in her direction.
“Owen,” Victor muttered for her benefit as he lifted his glass to finish the last of the water in it.
“Thank you,” she said to Victor with a smile. “All of you, thank you so much. For everything that you’re doing. And dessert, too? I’m sure there are some women in your lives who are seriously some happy, happy people.” She knew that James and Victor weren’t married, nor did they have lovers, but she didn’t know about the others. “Are any of you married?”
“Not yet, ma’am,” Gareth said with an elbow to Mikhail. “But one of these days, maybe. We’re the only two in a serious relationship. The rest pretty much hang around the house, eat everything in sight, and occasionally remember how to do their own laundry.”
“I damn well know how to do my own laundry,” James said. “I may not like doing it, but I do know enough to separate whites from colors and darks. Thank you very much.”
Victor snorted out a laugh from her other side. “Only after ending up with every white he owned becoming a delightful shade of pink.”
“That was not my fault. It wasn’t even my shirt left in the washer.” James grinned despite his defensive words.
“Oh God, that’s too freaking funny. And please, stop with the whole ma’am thing. Call me Kas or Kasper.”
The men all shared a look and then got nearly identical expressions of mischief on their faces, before all saying in near unison, “Yes, ma’am.”
All except Mikhail who seemed to be watching her like he was trying to decide something. Another round of laughter burst out around the table when she threw out glares and shook her fist at them.
“Fine, you are all hilarious.” She went to grab the dessert, then looked over her shoulder and asked, “Will one of you please bring me coffee, too? I’m going to take my pick of seats because I know which one is the most comfortable.”
They were all still chuckling and jostling one another good-naturedly, but several called out an affirmative to her. Someone had turned on the exterior lights so she had no trouble moving around the deck. Apparently, someone had also tidied up out back and brought up more seating from the shed, she noticed. The noise level was lessened for a time, until some of the men began to filter out with cups in hand. Owen brought out a stack of dishes for the dessert, as well as a handful of utensils which he set on the table near where she’d placed the dessert dish.
Kas rested back in her seat and closed her eyes. “You boys are too funny. You’ve all been together for a while, haven’t you? You move together like a well-oiled machine. I like it. You all just fit together.” She looked at the Mikhail again. “Why do I feel like I know you?” she asked the large man who looked like he still didn’t like her.
“We’ve never met before today.” Pretty much exactly what he’d said earlier. Now Kasper recognized it for the non-answer it was.
The others were watching them both with looks that told her they didn’t know the reason for his avoidance either. So Mikhail had a secret he wasn’t sharing with the group. Interesting.
“Okay.” She shook her head and frowned. “So how long have you all been functioning together as a unit? You aren’t all Marines, I can tell that much from your tattoos, so what brought you all together as a team?”
“Not a one of us is a Marine, ma’am,” someone said to her left. “We have here a mixture of Rangers and Navy SEALs. Totally different kettles of fish.”
Gareth nodded with a grin. “The military got the bright idea to create a team that would bring the best of the best from two different branches together. Some of us knew one another from various meetings over the years, some of us were even in basic together before getting put on different teams. It was rough in the beginning, since we were all the same rank, more or less. Having a defined leader is key in any situation. We put it to a vote, and in most scenarios, we have Nolan as our lead, since it’s so damn hard to rile him, but we can swap out for more regional gigs. Whoever speaks the native tongue of the area we’re working in is top dog on that op, and then we go back to just being brothers when off the field of battle.”
“It’s impressive you’re all able to fall into such a comfortable routine and be able to just chill or slide into something like this, where you have no idea if you’re going to get hurt or worse. I don’t understand that part of it, but I’m grateful you’re willing to keep me safe, even if it means you might be harmed.”
“We do take every precaution on jobs like this,” Owen t
old her. He leaned forward to pass her a cup of coffee with the handle pointed her way. “I’m not saying we can ever think up every possible scenario that might go down, but we’ve been doing this job in one way or another long enough that we do know how to plan for more than enough probable scenarios. The rest we’ll just handle as they come, if they come.”
“Well, thank you again for protecting me.” She didn’t speak again for many long moments, not until after her first bite of the dessert. “Oh God.” She let out a small moan of appreciation. “This is so good. Did you make this from scratch or pull it out of a box?”
Nolan shot forward in his chair to pin her with a glare. “I cannot believe you would even suggest I would disrespect my grandmother’s teachings, and recipe, by mentioning boxed desserts. Grandmother is rolling in her grave right now at the mere thought.”
“That would be a no on the boxed, and a yes on the ‘from scratch,’” James said with a laugh.
“You are pretty special then.” Switching her attention from Nolan to James, she asked, “Do you have any strange talents that I should know about? That you’re willing to share with me, I mean?” Kas was feeling more and more drawn to James and Victor with every passing second she spent with them. She knew everything about them from touching them, but that was two lifetimes to sort through. She was still trying to get through everything. The lust and need she had gotten from both of them was still wreaking havoc on her libido.
James frowned. Licking his lips, he shifted to sit facing her. “Strange like what?” he asked her curiously. “You already know the horror I had to go through to figure out you need to check up under the rim of the washing machine before doing whites. What else is there? Besides, you touched me—don’t you know everything there is to know about me?”
“Good point. So if I ever need to dye a shirt pink, I’ll know exactly who to come to. Although pink isn’t exactly a color I like to wear. I prefer brighter colors.” She hesitated. “When I touch someone, I get their whole life’s story, and it takes me time to assimilate everything. I’m still working my way through two lifetimes of thoughts and memories.”
“You never answered my question. What did you mean by strange abilities?” he asked her.
Kasper grinned and reached out to take James’ hand. He had called her Kasper, not ma’am. “I see your truths. I saw all of your truths. I don’t understand them, but I saw them.” She didn’t understand the stretch of time where they had trained in a place like nothing she’d ever seen before.
“What didn’t you understand?” he asked. “And you’re still avoiding the original question. Don’t think I didn’t notice that. Fucking Mik does that all the time to me too, drives me batty.” James snapped his mouth shut, his eyes wide, and then he whipped a look over to Mikhail, back to her, and then to Mikhail again. “Son of a bitch!”
“What?” Kasper looked from James to Mikhail and back to James. “I really don’t understand what’s happening here. As for what I don’t understand about what I saw, I don’t understand the time in your lives when you were in a completely white place being trained by a man in leather and armor. What’s that all about?” She had obviously mentioned something they didn’t want her to know, as each of the men looked to Mikhail.
“It was a training period we had,” Victor told her.
“You guys trained for Roman Battle?” That was the closest thing she could think of to describe what she’d seen. “That’s weird, but okay.” She shrugged and looked to Victor with a grin. “What about you? Is there anything fun and exciting you want to share with me?” She saw Gareth looking hard at Mikhail, and if possible, Mikhail was giving her even shittier looks than he had before.
Mikhail made her uneasy, and Kas decided she wanted to do the dishes. She walked into the kitchen, and with Victor’s help, they quickly made short work of them. Kas listened to the men on the deck teasing each other for a short time. “So what happens now? How long will you guys be here before the next team comes in to take your place?” They had to have a life outside of this protection detail, and Kas knew at least two of the men were in relationships, so she wasn’t sure what would happen next.
“There is no other team at this time. We’re here until the issue is resolved, at which point things will be re-examined, and we’ll roll with it.” Victor stepped in closer to her, bracing his hands on either side of her to cage her in. “Doesn’t mean that when that day comes, we’d just walk away from you. Unless, of course, you tell us to hit the road. At which point we would put up one hell of a stink, likely pout, or throw a temper tantrum, but we would shuffle off with a tear in our eyes, if that was your wish.”
“You don’t even know me.” Once more, she placed her hand on his chest, just over his heart. Not to push him away, but simply to feel him. “You never know, I might be one of those people that you like when you first meet and hate later. From all accounts, I’m a cold-hearted bitch who laughed at my parents’ graveside services.” A hitch sounded in her voice she couldn’t contain. There was real pain there; she knew that was what people thought of her.
“You weren’t looking at your parents’ coffins when you smiled,” he said quietly. “I know exactly what you were looking at, and it would make anyone smile, no matter how dire the moment they were in. Some of the others might have doubts, but I don’t. You’re a gentle soul, one who’s been bruised too much of late, and could use a hug, I think. I’m offering, if that wasn’t clear enough for you.”
“I would really enjoy a hug. A great deal.” When he closed his thick arms around her, she felt she was finally where she had been trying to be all her life. She felt like she was finally home, and that thought struck her profoundly. Eyes closed, Kas simply relaxed, enjoying how good it felt to be held by this man. Not having to worry about being touched was a novelty she fully intended to enjoy.
“Any time you want, or need, one you say the word, honey,” he said softly. Victor rocked them slightly as he cuddled her to his chest. He didn’t say anything else, just gave her the comfort of being held by someone who didn’t want something from her. It was exactly what she needed right then.
Kas enjoyed the moment and then finally pulled back from him. Looking up with a smile on her face, she nodded. “Thank you. I needed that. I didn’t realize I needed it until you wrapped your arms around me and pulled me close. I could become rather accustomed to that.” What a scary thought. What would she do when these men were gone?
He tapped a finger to her nose. “Hey, stay here in the moment. The future will come along in its own time, and in its own way, no matter what we do. Don’t go borrowing trouble before its time has come. We have now, we are all here now, so let’s enjoy the now. Okay?”
“I like the now,” she assured him with a smirk. “I guess we should head back outside, shouldn’t we?” Kas leaned up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you,” she repeated herself before leaving the comfort of his arms and heading out to visit with everyone gathered on her deck.
“You’re welcome, ma’am,” he said. When she whipped her head around to glare at him, Victor snickered and smiled her way. After pushing the door open, he waved her through before following her over to the group. A group missing two people—Mikhail and James.
She looked to Gareth and asked, “Where are Mikhail and James? He’s not burying James on my property, is he?” The large blond man had looked rather angry at James, and he seemed fierce, so she wasn’t sure what was going on with them.
“They’re about forty yards that way,” he said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. “As far as I know, both are still alive and breathing. Don’t worry about it. We’re all a little heavy on the alpha gene around here, so we occasionally need to get in someone’s face, growl, snarl, and get it out of our system.”
“Ah, okay. I’ll try not to let it worry me.” She still didn’t like it. For some reason, she felt like she was the reason that the two longtime friends were arguing, and she didn’t like it one bit.
She was just a job. They, however, were friends, and she wanted them to remain friends. She had no idea why Mikhail hated her; it hurt her heart that he did, and she didn’t know why his hatred hurt.
“Probably best,” Nolan said. “They’ll tire themselves out eventually, and that will be that. Until then it’s just a lot of chest puffing, snarling, and posturing. Exhausting, really, and that’s just for those of us on the sidelines. Though I will admit to being curious about whatever the hell they’re discussing.”
“Curiosity killed the cat, man,” Owen muttered from his relaxed position in a chair. “And with Mik, you’d know there’d be no coming back.”
“True, the man doesn’t ever miss.”
“He must be a sniper. I’m not bad with a weapon myself.” She was sniper-rated as well, dang good if she said so herself, but she had never done anything with it. She’d never needed to.
Gareth snickered. “Yeah, you could call it that. Or—what is it that you always label him as, Victor?”
“The guy who can reach out from a different zip code and touch you in a very special way.” Victor shrugged, grinning. “I’m aiming to shorten it down a little, but it’s still a work in progress. The Reaper is what they called him in training, but that didn’t stick.”
“Reaper,” Kasper whispered. “My father always told me I was far too much like Reaper in my shooting, how I could move in and out of places without anyone taking any notice. He said that everyone called him the Wolf, but he was more like the Reaper. Able to deal death from a mile away. Dad mentored a lot of people during his time in the service, and the Wolf was one of his favorites.”
“He was known as the Reaper in sniper training, but he didn’t like the connotations, so we dubbed him the Wolf,” Gareth told her with a frown. “Your dad probably remembered it, since it’s unusual for anyone to change their call sign. But no one was prepared to argue with the guy who could pick you off with his eyes closed in a hurricane while doing the chicken dance.”