by Mighty Men
Nate’s breathing never changed, but those damn cold eyes of his blinked back fury. She saw the red rims of anger outline his pupils. The mark of rage staining his cheeks was precisely what she wanted to see.
“What’s Donovan got to do with this?” Colby asked.
“I imagine you’ve been asking yourself that since the beginning. A good-looking gay man placed here on a mission with you and Nate sort of complicates things, doesn’t it?”
“His sexual orientation means nothing to me,” Colby said.
Karen shook off Colby’s grip. “I don’t have to tell you anything. Everything you’ve had to go on—whether it was a gut feeling or something else, a tip perhaps—has been right.”
“I’d work on the attitude if I were in your shoes,” Colby advised, clasping his hand around her forearm once more. “I don’t play games, Miss Whitaker. I expect answers when the questions asked directly affect my life.”
“Self-preservation,” she hummed. “I know all about safeguarding one’s own life. In fact, I’m willing to tell you everything you need to know. But first, you’re going to promise me something in return.”
“What?” Nate asked, seemingly uninterested.
“She wants us to guarantee her safety,” Colby enlightened Nate. “And if we keep her neck from snapping, it will be one of the biggest mistakes of our lives.”
* * * *
“Donovan Collier?”
Admiral Shoemaker recognized the young man’s voice. He still had the excitement and energy. Donovan most likely anticipated his orders long before now. He probably couldn’t wait to start the pending mission. Little did he know, he was already in the combat zone.
“This is Donovan.”
Shoemaker spoke with authority. “Your assignment is to dispose of the men working with you as quickly as possible. Once the mission is complete, leave Rarotonga and head to Aitutaki. There, you’ll check in at the Aitutaki Beach Villas and wait for further instructions.”
He’d never make it that far.
Nate and Colby wouldn’t let an inexperienced ISO deliver death sentences without pulling a pin or detonating a bomb before they took their last breaths. They were trained to kill even if it meant taking their own lives in the process.
Donovan might take the last shot, or possibly even stab his victims to an unexpected death, but they would avenge their own demise on their way out. They wouldn’t go down as mere causalities. Men like Nate and Colby never found eternal rest unless they guaranteed their extinction wasn’t completely in vain. An eye for an eye took on new meaning when killers lingered behind the sights.
“I don’t understand,” he said.
“The hell you don’t,” Shoemaker barked. “Your orders are clear. Take out the two ISOs sharing a cabana with you. They’re both fully trained, independent special operatives who have been released from duty pending quietus. You’ll receive further orders in Aitutaki.”
“Yes, sir.”
The line disconnected. Admiral Shoemaker hit the speaker option and pressed one for his secretary. When she came on the line, he said, “Marg, get my son on the line. I have some news I can’t wait to share with him.”
* * * *
Donovan sat on the edge of the sofa. He stared at the floor, the precise place where Nate pinned him the first day they met. He remembered the arousal, the way he grew hard under Nate’s touch.
God in heaven help him, he never imagined an assignment like this one. How in the hell was he supposed to take out someone who had been the source of his fantasies for several days? Better still, how did he snuff out two fires when the smoldering remains of one lost love prohibited him from feeling anything at all for nearly three years?
He took a deep breath and caught a hint of the wild musk scent Colby Carrington wore. The fragrance was masculine and almost natural, but the real appeal was in the knowledge. The person behind the cologne made him hard with crazy lust despite their differences.
The hired gun in a mix of supreme artillery talent, Donovan was the most inexperienced of the lot. Why did Shoemaker think he was the man for the job?
Then, the truth slapped him in the face. The disposal of two ISOs potentially meant the demise of many. Was he next?
Chapter Seven
Nate didn’t like swapping secrets or protecting skin. Other than saving his own hide, he never worried about covering anyone else. Even when he traveled to desolate places, Nate knew his life held more value than those he was hired to save. An invaluable member of a highly selective force, hundreds of thousands of dollars went into his training. He was an investment, or he should’ve been.
“I don’t believe you,” he blurted out.
Colby shrugged. “It’s true. I suspected what this mission entailed when I came here. Then I saw Donovan Collier seated across from you, and everything made sense. Collier pissed off the wrong man in charge. I heard about him in the field and suspected he would. The higher ups aren’t particularly crazy about a young gun with attitude, and Donovan has plenty.
“Then, on the other hand, we have you to consider. You have an enemy collection none of us want. I imagine you wear several targets on your back.”
“And I guess you’re more like Goldilocks trapped inside a deep dark forest with nowhere left to run and hide,” Nate said.
Colby chuckled. “I’ve been in plenty of beds since I last saw you, Nate. I can disappear under a warm blanket where no one will ever think to look. You know me. I get around.”
Nate flinched, the truth unraveling before his very eyes. He didn’t want to hear about Colby’s past lovers or future duty calls. He wanted the kind of things only one man understood how to give him, the precious experiences he had no right to think about then. What he needed was another chance to hold Colby in his arms.
He’d fuck the life out of him given the chance. If he didn’t remember the mutual feelings they once shared—regardless of how short-lived—then he really didn’t give a damn if Colby wanted to go ahead and take him out. After seeing him again, Nate reached a decision. Life wasn’t worth living if he couldn’t remember what they’d meant to one another and experience those same feelings once more.
Nate concentrated on Karen. She was scared. No doubt about it, the woman knew fear, and tremendous anxiety stained its pretty mark on her rosy cheeks. He liked to see the evidence of weakness, but he sure as hell didn’t like it when others considered him a weak link, one easily disposed of when the time was convenient.
“This doesn’t make sense,” he said. “What the hell is Shoemaker thinking?”
Colby gripped Karen’s shoulders. “You’d better start talking.”
They didn’t have to persuade or ask her twice. “Donovan Collier was on a mission with Admiral Shoemaker’s son.”
Nate narrowed his gaze. “Darby Winslow?”
“Yes,” she said. “Winslow is—”
“Shoemaker’s illegitimate son,” Nate finished.
“How’d you know?” She seemed surprised.
Dumb bitch probably thought he’d sit down and start a campfire so they could share war stories. Conversation wasn’t his forte. “What about him?” he barked.
“Winslow and Donovan Collier were lovers.”
Colby found Karen’s statement interesting enough to laugh outright. “Damn. I see why Shoemaker is pissed.”
“No, you don’t understand what this means,” Karen assured.
“Sure, I do,” Colby replied. “If Winslow’s file is opened, then Shoemaker will be exposed for the two-timing bastard he’s always been.”
“Exactly,” Karen said. “In fact, his file has been opened. Shoemaker suspects there’s an investigation pending.”
“Darby Winslow has always been crooked.”
“Like father, like son,” Nate said, pausing and redirecting his focus. “So he wants rid of Donovan? I might understand why someone like Shoemaker would want to hide his son’s lover, but why does he want us out of the picture?”
Co
lby’s color drained from his cheeks. He released Karen, and at the same time, she said, “Colby knows Winslow, too. Don’t you, Colby?”
Nate felt a sudden tug at his heart, and Colby backed away from both of them. She continued. “Nate, you’re the loose wire in a ticking time bomb. You haven’t slept with Winslow, or if you have, Shoemaker doesn’t know about it.”
Colby clenched his fist and glared at Karen. She was, in Nate’s best estimation, two minutes shy of taking her last breath.
“Nate?” he narrowed his gaze.
Nate shook his head. “I don’t know him. I know about his mental illness, something about lost loves and things I’d never understand. Outside of hearsay, something I don’t have time for, I don’t know anything about him.”
Karen looked satisfied. “Then the only explanation for the contract on you is the one I first assumed, anyway.”
Nate and Colby locked gazes. Nate didn’t pray much, but right then he decided to ask for a simple favor. He didn’t want her to reveal why his name was up for grabs, why his number had suddenly been called and a hit existed just for him.
Smugly, she said, “Admiral Shoemaker believes you’ll kill anyone and everyone associated with the death of one very important person in your life.”
“No one is important in my life, so I don’t think you have grounds for such a theory.”
“It’s not a theory,” Colby corrected. “You and I both know the truth. If anything ever happened to you, I’d kill the son of a bitch who took his shot.”
Nate swallowed tightly. Maybe he should remind Colby of the recent attempt on his life and the gun Colby recently pointed at his head.
He couldn’t look at Colby. Everything he didn’t want to say, Colby expressed without hesitation or warning. There was most definitely a legitimate reason Colby hadn't taken his shot when he had one, if he gained one, at the restaurant. Maybe their distorted feelings for one another explained why they avoided personal contact at every corner since their arrival in the islands.
Colby Carrington was the love of Nate’s life. Oddly enough, their love remained untarnished by the separation of months or the miles placed between them. If anything, their feelings grew stronger. Now, with everything out in the open, all he could think about was the one person he wanted to protect. But first, he needed to fuck him, and he intended to screw him right.
* * * *
Karen saw the sexual tension building. Then, she saw it crumble around them. The self-control of two hard and ready males deteriorated right before her very eyes.
Colby took one step and then another. Nate backed away only once. Then, as if a dam broke free, Colby went to him. Nate clasped his hand around the nape of his neck, and fireworks would’ve paled in comparison to the explosive beginning.
Their mouths met. No, they more or less crashed together. Tongues and teeth, licks and nips. Good Lord, she’d never seen anything so erotic in all of her life, and she’d witnessed a lot.
Nate Francisco was going to fuck Colby Carrington right there on the sandy beach of Mangaia. She couldn’t have orchestrated such an event if she tried.
All she could think about as Nate fumbled with Colby’s belt was how hungry he looked. Damn if she hadn’t been right about him. From the moment she met him, she suspected the truth. A dark lover, one controlled by mediums even those he trained under couldn’t pinpoint, Nate went after what he wanted, and no one stood in his way.
Karen knew the real reason Admiral Thomas Shoemaker wanted Nate out of the picture. Colby was only half right. Shoemaker wanted this Nate, the beast, unleashed. The lust driven, famished male, the kind of man who took what he wanted and feasted for hours on end, Nate was without a doubt the kind of lover Shoemaker craved.
The smacking of lips was sexy enough for show, but heaven help her when the men stepped out of their shorts and stripped off their shirts. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do then. She longed to join them, participate in the experience, and indulge in the festivities of a reunion apparently delayed for one reason or another.
Nate tugged at Colby’s cock, and as she’d heard—and God help her, she’d listened to one recording after another as Darby Winslow described his encounters with Colby—he was, without a doubt, huge in size. Colby mumbled something against Nate’s lips while both men stepped out of their shoes and away from their fashionable clothes.
Nate only gave her a sideways glance. “Join or watch. I don’t care either way.”
Observing didn’t hold any measure of appeal unless they included her in the throes of the penetrating action. Too much heat existed in the air to simply go play in the water and pretend not to notice the sex on the beach.
Undressing, Karen gaped at the two men. They touched one another intimately, like each caress was one they’d carry with them long after they left the islands, assuming they’d leave there at all.
Nate, an obvious top—and she read a lot about gay relationships—slowly pulled at his own cock while toying with Colby. They dropped to the sand, and Colby’s arms flew around Nate’s neck.
Rolling across the white ground, Nate was on top and then on the bottom. Rolling, rolling, rolling. They seemed to wrestle like two boys frolicking around for the first time. Their cocks touched, their hands clasped, and Karen crawled over to join them, feeling like an intruder, a lover imposing on a situation she refused to leave unattended.
To her surprise, Colby and Nate both included her, and they did it with finesse.
* * * *
Colby never loved anyone, only Nate. He’d never known love at all until Nate saved him from unimaginable circumstances in a deserted POW camp. Then, Nate nursed him back to health in a way he never expected. Colby knew from the moment he first met Nate that his life was forever changed. Then, as quickly as he found and loved him, he lost him.
Now, together again in the middle of an open lagoon, tumbling across the sand with the warm waves lapping over them, they made out hard and wild. Even the experience of adding Karen, an additional partner, brought new life back into a romance that never fizzled, certainly never died.
“Ah, Nate,” Colby muttered, bracing himself over him and licking his full lips. Nate’s strong hands were at his back, his fingers kneading him, working out the kinks and knots days of estrangement brought.
Then Karen’s tongue dueled for the right of stealing one kiss. Her mouth landed next to theirs. Colby tilted his head to the side, afraid to abandon his primary lover for the strange kiss of a female.
Karen pissed him off by revealing more than he wanted Nate to know, but Colby owed her this. She revealed his secrets, and her chosen words led them straight into unbridled passion.
When she moaned into the kiss, Colby passed her off to Nate and he came unglued. The controlled soldier slipped into the role of an expedient lover. He fisted her hair, holding her long locks off of her shoulders and then pulling her back in order to stare at her breasts.
A wicked smile curved her lips, and she said, “Don’t tell me. You don’t like these?” She broke free of Nate’s lips and cupped her shape, raising the full mounds enough to draw in the approval sought and quickly gained—Nate’s lingering stare.
“I prefer cocks,” he said, holding Colby’s dick and twisting her right nipple until she moaned in a sweet cry.
“Be nice, Nate,” Colby whispered, but Nate most likely ignored him. He had stars in his eyes and Colby noticed right before he kissed Karen again.
Her mouth opened, and her tongue drew him closer. Between their hot bodies, Colby felt Nate’s hand drop lower, manipulating a woman’s pleasure, drawing out sensual whimpers.
Colby and Nate clasped hands. Colby reached for his lover’s hard penis and remembered. Oh, God, how he remembered how it felt to hold him, stroke him, and, hell yeah, let him take his wild ride while bucking against him stroke for stroke.
Karen shifted, and when she did, Colby turned the tables. He placed his hand at her hip and gave her a quick push under his body. Toweri
ng over her, he kissed her again. His tongue inched between her lips, and he explored the sensuality of a woman, the way her kiss was delicate compared to Nate’s harder, rougher one. At the moment, he craved a little of both. The hot heat he only felt from a man, and the gentle contour of a female mouth, smooth and soft, added a nice touch to his reunion with Nate.
A few minutes of groping and Nate stood behind him. Positioned at his ass, Nate’s hands went to his middle back and then lowered a few inches. He pressed the balls of his hands into Colby’s flesh. Karen’s legs opened like she knew what to expect. Colby inhaled her arousal, the spicy, honey rich smell of a ready woman waiting for sex.
Karen’s eyes closed, and she caressed between her legs. Toying with him, she dipped her fingers into her cunt, and he watched. Heaven help him, he noted the way she brought about her own pleasure and was turned on by the show.
Nate reached around his waist and gripped his cock. He threaded Colby through his closed palm, up and down, twirling and twisting, pulling and yanking until Colby thought he might explode. Then Nate’s pre-cum leaked onto his hip, and he whispered. “Let me have you, Colby. I want what belongs to me.”
He was right. He’d always belonged to Nate. From the moment he pulled him from the dilapidated shack in the middle of the hell hot desert, Colby was, without a doubt, one hundred percent Nate Francisco’s merchandise.
Colby pushed Karen’s hand aside and plunged into her wet walls, arching his back at precisely the right time. Nate held onto Colby's hips and inched into his bottom, pressing a little harder once a secure fit locked him in place.
“Oh, God!” Karen cried out as they all rocked together. Colby’s strokes were uneven when Nate first pounded into his ass, but soon he found a stimulating rhythm. He hammered wildly into her vagina, never changing his pace, and matching the one Nate set for all of them.
“That’s it,” Colby said, dropping his mouth to Karen’s chest. “Let him have us.”