Embrace The Suck (A Stepbrother Special Forces Novel)

by Kenzie, Sophia

  “So,” he coolly whispered, “in your file they’re going to write that you’re stubborn and refuse to play by the rules.” He flashed a smile at me.

  I grimaced back. “No one is going to write that.”

  “I just might. And then I just might have to punish you for bad behavior.” Then, with a quick laugh, Charlie began to tickle me until I screamed.

  I yelled at him, saying that our parents were libel to rush up here to make sure one of us wasn’t dying.

  “I’m not hiding anything.” He growled as his fingers danced across my belly.

  Finally, I grabbed his hands, stopping his fingers from traveling south. Then, with a slight brush of the back of my hand, I teased, “You’re not even going to try and hide that huge boner under the sheet?”

  His face flushed ever so slightly. “Okay, you caught me.”

  I didn’t hate it. I liked that touching me turned him on. It certainly turned me on.

  “Ugh, I’m not going to get this done if you keep flashing that thing at me.” I warned, but I knew he was too proud of himself for it to mean anything.

  But, he ceded. “In an effort to show you that I care about more than just your body, I will help you complete this. Now, after 18D, what would you like to put down next?”

  After a few more seconds of hemming and hawing, I finally settled on 18D- Medical Sergeant, then 18E- Communications Sergeant, then 18B- Weapons Sergeant, and finally 18C- Engineer Sergeant.

  “Okay, next is the fun part.” I pulled up the information on each of the groups, and then I turned to Charlie. “You’re in the 3rd Special Forces Group, right? Out of Africa?”

  “I am,” he nodded. “Are you going to request to be put with me?” He was almost too happy about it.

  “No.” I smiled at him. “But,” it was obvious my wheels were turning, “If I request the 7th Special Forces Group, then we’ll both work out of Ft. Bragg when we’re in the states.”

  He let out a boisterous laugh. “Don’t pretend that’s your reasoning. You just want to ship out to the Caribbean as often as possible.”

  Damn. He caught me. “Guilty.”

  But in reality, it did seem like the best option. I guess I hadn’t realized before getting this information that Charlie was usually stationed at Bragg. He was just in Georgia for the training, which his team had volunteered to help run while they weren’t deployed. It made sense now that I was thinking about it. I knew he kept an apartment in North Carolina, and now I knew why. And it was perfect: it was just far enough away from home that I could have my own life, and yet not too far away that I couldn’t go home for a weekend to get me some of my mama’s macaroni.

  The 1st SF Group worked out of Ft. Lewis, Washington, and traveled to the forty-three countries in the Asia Pacific region. Pass- it’s too rainy in Washington, and I had no interest in learning Mandarin and Cantonese, let alone all those tiny island dialects.

  The 3rd SF Group, Charlie’s group, worked out of Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, and traveled to Africa, where it’s Area of Responsibility, or AOR, encased forty-two countries. Not terrible- at least I’d get to stay at Bragg, and I would be close to Charlie… all the time. Oddly, I didn’t hate that idea.

  The 5th SF Group worked out of Ft. Campbell in Kentucky, with its AOR including twenty-five countries between the Horn of Africa, South and Central Asia, the Northern Red Sea, the Arabian Peninsula, and Iraq. There was something enticing about this one, especially considering that the location came equipped with every sort of environment imaginable, from mountain ranges with 24,000 feet elevations, deserts below sea level, and temperatures ranging from below freezing, to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. While maybe not the easiest place to find yourself accustomed to, it sounded pretty badass.

  “Why didn’t you choose to be in the 5th Special Forces Group?” I questioned Charlie’s actions after reading through the description.

  He sighed. “I did, actually. But Pops was in one of his “I’m going to prove a point” phases and decided to give me my second choice instead.”

  The tension felt a little high. “Sore subject?” I tried to tease.

  “Little bit.” He nodded, but quickly laughed. “I was a hard kid to handle, and I was even harder on my father. Looking back, I don’t blame him.”

  “Do you consider yourself close now?” While getting this questionnaire completed was a top priority, I wasn’t about to overlook that fact that Charlie was sharing something personal.

  “No. I mean,” he corrected himself. “We’re closer than we were, obviously, but there’s still… tension.” He settled on that word.

  “Why do you think?” I desperately tried to seem casual.

  But he wasn’t falling for it. “When did we get on this topic? I thought we were going through the groups?”

  Damn. So close.

  The 7th SF Group, which I had already decided would be my first choice, reported to Ft. Bragg, just as the 3rd Special Forces Group did, and their AOR was thirty-two countries large: nineteen between Central and South America, and thirteen in the Caribbean. I would have no problem spending the next five years in the tropics: no problem at all.

  Finally, the 10th SF Group, operating out of Colorado, at Fort Carson, covered a whopping fifty-two countries in Europe. Focused on training and conducting combat, unconventional warfare, special reconnaissance, and foreign internal defense missions, the 10th SF Group consists of a group headquarters, support units, and three subordinate battalions. Over 1,100 soldiers are stationed at Fort Carson. Whoa. Just… whoa. Although I love Europe, the simple sheer size of those numbers made me queasy.

  We went back and forth a few times. Me offering up some “pros” of each Group while he countered with “cons”, marrying each defense with a story from on of his buddies in each of the other Groups.

  “Maybe the 5th would be a better choice. I know it’s hard, but I’ve always wanted to learn Farsi.” I tapped my fingers on the keyboard.

  “Nope, you can’t choose the 5th.” Charlie was about to offer up another “con”.

  “No?” I looked to him, waiting for his reasoning. “And why’s that?”

  “I slept with the 18A’s girlfriend a few years back. He’s bound to try to get back at me with you.” He seemed to picture it in his mind. “Nope. You can’t.”

  “Who’s to say I’d sleep with him?” I argued for my own ethics.

  “Mmm,” he pondered, “Yeah, no, I don’t trust him. He’s really strong.”

  I had to laugh. He had an answer for everything.

  With the entire morning gone, and a lot of unsolicited guidance from Charlie, I finally landed on my complete list:

  MOS:

  1. Medical Sergeant

  2. Communications Sergeant

  3. Weapons Sergeant

  4. Engineer Sergeant

  SF Group:

  1. 7th SF Group – Central/South America and the Caribbean

  2. 5th SF Group – Middle East

  3. 3rd SF Group - Africa

  4. 10th SF Group - Europe

  5. 1st SF Group – Asia/Pacific Islands

  Languages:

  1. French

  2. Spanish

  3. Arabic

  4. Farsi

  5. Swahili

  “I’m done!” I closed my laptop, feeling as though I had conquered the world.

  “Baby.” Charlie looked at me for the first time that morning with real worry in his eyes. “You haven’t even started.”

  Ha. He had a very good point.

  Chapter Four

  Charlie

  Hannah wouldn’t let me touch her until I got the A-Okay from the doctor. Obviously I resented her greatly for that, and every day that she swatted away my hand, I made sure she knew just how deep that resentment was going. She brought up some fine points about my health and well being, but that didn’t stop me from sneaking a grab any and every minute that I could. I missed her body. I missed her warmth, her openness, and her movements. I missed being i
nside of her.

  “It hasn’t been two weeks yet.” Hannah yelled at me as she came in for our morning snuggles to find me getting ready to head to the hospital.

  “I feel fine. Hell,” I boomed, “I feel great. And if I don’t get the okay to fuck you today, we’re both going to be having a problem, so I’m not taking ‘no’ for an answer… From either of you.” I added with a sly smile.

  I loved speaking to her in that crass way. It always made her cheeks blush so brightly. And for some reason, being the “wounded soldier” that I was, she was totally letting me get away with it.

  “Fine!” My red-cheeked beauty fought me. “But I’m going with you.”

  “Don’t you trust me?” I knew the answer.

  “No! Not when you know I won’t give it up until you get approval for physical activity.” She was being so strict. It was hot.

  I took a few steps towards her and wrapped my arms around her waist. “I can remember a few times I’ve gotten you to give it up.”

  “Charlie!” She yelped as she bonked me on the nose. She had been doing that fairly often more recently; afraid that slapping or punching my arm might make my lung collapse again. I promised that she couldn’t hurt me, and then she promised when I was all better we’d go ahead and test that theory.

  I was a little too excited for that experiment.

  After announcing to our parents that she was driving me to the hospital, Hannah and I escaped through the front door and to the car. I had offered for Hannah to drive my truck, but she felt it was a little too big for her “dainty frame”. I then told her that the Special Forces training was doing a good job of de-daintifying her.

  It was meant to be a compliment.

  She didn’t take it as such.

  Fuck me.

  “You have a very real chance of getting in my pants this afternoon, and you decide today is the day to call me fat?” Hannah kicked the car into gear and took off down the driveway.

  “You’re getting muscular, not fat!” I tried to explain.

  “’Muscular’ is just the nice way of saying ‘heavy’.”

  I knew she was half joking, but I did feel bad for making her feel as though I noticed the change in her body. She wasn’t getting heavy by any means. She was absolutely gorgeous. But, she was actually starting to look like she could beat up a full-grown man. That might not seem attractive to her, but in my world, that was a compliment.

  We bickered and teased for a few minutes, until I shoved my fingers down her pants and between her legs. She shut right up. Well, except for the moaning. I played with her clit, grabbing her wetness from just below.

  “Put your seatbelt back on.” She ordered as I was trying to get closer to her.

  “In a minute.” I purred as I lowered my mouth to her lap and undid her pants.

  I stuck my tongue right in her slit, tasting as much of her as the angle would allow. She helped me by lifting her hips, giving me a greater access.

  “Can you drive like that?” I released her long enough to ask the question.

  “Yes.” She shot back. “Now shut up and get back to work.”

  I guess I wasn’t the only one who was horny from two weeks of celibacy. I tugged her pants down her hips and below her knees, allowing me to spread her legs and dive into my prize. Oh God, her taste was like heaven. I buried myself in her, wanting so much more than what was physically possible to have. She cried out as my tongue bounced between her hard clit, her wanting opening, and her ass.

  By now, Hannah’s face was flushed, her pussy plump, and I had her exactly where I wanted her. “When we get back,” I purred, my tongue still teasing her, “I’m going to put my cock in your ass.”

  Her head kicked back as she arched, though she still kept her eyes on the road. “You finish what you’re doing and you can put your cock wherever you want.”

  Success.

  I drilled my fingers inside of her as I twisted and twirled her clit in my mouth, and within seconds, she was putty. I lifted my wet fingers to her face, letting her smell her sex, before I licked them clean.

  “A promise is a promise, Hannah.” I chuckled my evil laugh, knowing that I was going to be drilling her wherever and however I wanted to drill her for the rest of the day.

  Just as soon as this fucking doctor approved I was healthy enough to fuck her.

  And then my phone rang, taking me out of my fantasy.

  “Who is it?” Hannah moaned, still enjoying the effects of her orgasm.

  “Huh… strange.” I took a look at my phone. “Army buddy. I wonder why he’s calling me.” It was a ruse. I knew exactly who was calling.

  Hannah squirmed. “Can you pull my pants back up before you answer that?”

  “Hmmm.” I thought about it for a second, but damn, I would much rather her stay bottomless. “No.”

  “Jerk.” She narrowed her eyes at me while trying to simultaneously drive and slide her pants back over her hips. I stopped her by sticking my two fingers back inside of her.

  I smiled at her, keeping my hand where it was, but went right back to my phone. “Madison.”

  It was a quick call, but one that was greatly appreciated.

  “Charlie.” I felt her wriggle around me.

  “Are you uncomfortable, my dear?” I twisted my wrist back and forth.

  “No.” She held it together. “I would just like to know why you are thinking up a plan.” Hannah all too well recognized my pensive stare.

  I practically ignored her questions, seeming as though I was deep in thought. “Pit stop?” I suggested before releasing her from my hold and directing her off our current route, to base.

  Although she questioned fairly strongly about my intentions, I didn’t want to let her in just yet. The call I received was from an SF buddy, my Communications Sergeant actually, who had been following my dear friend, Dr. Danny, around for the last two weeks.

  Even thought Hannah refused to show fear, especially while I was healing, I could tell that she had yet to settle with the whole Danny situation. I knew I needed to take care of him once and for all if we were ever going to move on from this mess. And so, with permission from the Command Sergeant Major himself, my team had been devising a plan to do just that.

  We pulled up to the base, and three guys hopped in the back of the car.

  “Umm…” Hannah looked at me, as she slyly buttoned the top of her jeans, clearly begging to know what was going on and what she had just volunteered to be a part of.

  “Hannah,” I acted as if nothing was odd about the situation, “this is Dinkley, Pierce, and Rollins. They’re on my team.”

  They all exchanged pleasantries, but it didn’t stop Hannah’s stare from searing into the side of my face, as I was avoiding eye contact with her at all costs. I wasn’t ready for her to know what we were up to.

  “The guys,” I started, “they just want to be with me when I get the good news.”

  “Yeah,” Pierce jumped in, “we’re tired of him taking vacation.”

  Rollins took a jab himself. “What good is having an officer on the team if he’s just gonna go and wind up in the hospital every chance he has?”

  Dinkley must have felt left out, so he popped his head in between the front seats and smiled at Hannah. “Thank you for doing my job though.”

  I elaborated on his comment. “Dinkley is my Medical Sergeant.” He was referring to her patching me up.

  “Oh!” For the first time, Hannah perked up. “I’d love to pick you brain sometime.”

  He chuckled, as he looked right at me. “You can pick more than that, if you’d like.”

  I turned around and punched him. Hannah gave me another warning about physical activity, but my 18D deserved to be punched, so I didn’t care. I’d gladly tear another hole in my lung if only to remind him that he had to keep his hands off of what was mine.

  We pulled up to the hospital, and the five of us made our way to the waiting room. I grabbed Hannah’s hand and rolled her fingers around
with mine. “Hey.” I gave her a kiss on the cheek.

  “Hey.” She smiled a cheery sort of gleam.

  “Do me a favor?” I begged, knowing she was about to fight me.

  Her lips twisted. “What’s up?”

  “Can you wait here while I go in?” I prayed she wouldn’t ask why.

  I was not so lucky. Though, technically, she didn’t specifically ask ‘why’. “Okay, what’s going on with you?” She sat up in her chair, angling her body toward me.

  Just then, her eyes darted away, and landed on the receptionist booth, where the receptionist was typing away. But, standing behind the plump male receptionist with the dark rimmed glasses, was her old beau, Dr. Danny.

  “No. No. No.” She looked around at my guys and then back at me. “Charlie, what are you planning on doing?”

  “I’m not going to hurt him.” I shot my hands up, claiming innocence. “I just want to get him to admit what he did.”

  Hannah stood, pacing before me. She clearly wasn’t happy with me, and I’m sure she wasn’t too happy with herself, considering this was the first moment she had realized that I duped her.

  “You’re a fucking idiot. You know that?” She was angry; there was no denying that. And she had every right to be.