The Battlefield Series 5: Breaking Through the Pain (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  The tanks were moving in but he was caught between them and then enemy fire. Bullets whizzed by his head and he saw Milton, one of his buddies, dead on the ground, his insides pouring from his body. He turned to the right and saw more bodies, more of his troop, all dead—blown to parts or bloodied from bullets. He couldn’t see if there was anyone alive. It was total chaos, a nightmare, and he kept firing his weapon at where the bullets came from when he felt the sharp pain to his back. He jerked forward, reaching the doorway and falling inside. The sharp pain couldn’t defeat the adrenaline running through his body but then came two more shots. He turned and saw an enemy soldier pointing his gun. It was do or die as he fired his weapon and more came through the door. He took them out one by one, screaming, yelling in fear for his life and that this was it. He was going to die here. Another explosion went off, taking out the doorway and all the enemy soldiers forcing their way inside. He fell against the stairs, gun in hand, waiting to die.

  “Shimmy? Shimmy, wake up. Wake up, please.”

  He jerked forward and rolled to the right, feeling the hands on him and caught in the nightmare.

  Cali screamed out. He had her pinned to the bed, his forearm over her chest, nearly against her neck, but strong arms gripped him from behind.

  “Shimmy!” Culhane yelled, and Warren placed his forearm between Shimmy and Cali.

  “What the hell is going on?” Dominick asked, joining them in the room.

  Her big brown eyes were wide open and she was staring at him.

  “Cali. Oh, God,” he said and went to get up.

  “No,” she said and Warren moved his arm, Culhane released his strong hold and she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down on top of her. Her legs wrapped around him and he held himself up on his forearms slightly.

  “I’ll crush you and hurt you,” he said in protest.

  “No you won’t. You would never hurt me, Shimmy.”

  She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair. He stared at her in awe of her strength and the fact that she didn’t fear him in this state.

  He lowered down and kissed her, then rolled to the side, taking her with him, running his palm up her shirt, baring her naked body to his brothers. She lifted up when he released her lips and she pulled the shirt up off of her then helped ease his boxers down his legs and off of him. When he kicked them off he gripped her hair and head, pulling her down to kiss her again. She slid her wet pussy over his cock and took him inside of her with ease and want. He moaned into her mouth.

  She rocked her hips and rode him best she could until he released her lips and she lifted up and thrust faster. He cupped her beasts, stared at the beauty of her body, the feel of her smooth, perfect skin and the intense look in her eyes.

  “I’m sorry, Cali.”

  She shook her head.

  “I’m here for you, Shimmy. There’s no place I’d rather be than here with you and your brothers.”

  He felt her words in his heart and he rolled her to her back and thrust into her deeply until he no longer thought about how he could have hurt her but how much he needed her to say what she did and to hold him and accept him, even in this crazy state.

  She cried out his name and gripped his shoulders as he thrust three more times and came inside of her.

  “You’re so damn special, baby, and you’re mine.” He kissed her neck as they calmed their breathing, then slid from her body and held her in his arms.

  Everyone else lay there on alert. He knew they were concerned. They feared he could have hurt her but she stopped him. She brought him back. It was her voice that stopped the nightmare. Her firm order to let him be and hug him while he settled back down. What woman in their right mind would do that and not be terrified right now? In that moment he thought about the counselors he had seen for therapy and how none of it worked. He stopped and tried dealing with it on his own. That wasn’t working either, but now, he had Cali. She was super special indeed.

  She dragged her fingernails back and forth along his chest then up to his shoulders.

  “One time, when I was recovering from my injuries, I was caught in a nightmare and grabbed the bedside lamp and threw it through the wall. The sound of it shattering and the wall cracking awoke me,” she told him and then lifted up higher and continued to stroke his skin.

  “When I first started gaining consciousness for longer periods of time, I always thought about the initial abduction and how I could have changed things if I had noticed the two men, or the idling car with the tinted windows. Then the nightmares went to stopping the sounds of their voices, the scent of their sweat, and the words they used to make me obey them. More recently, it’s how I got free, but instead of getting free they catch me and bring me back, and I die at their hands as the men who threatened to rape me do more than just that, and I can’t wake up.” She looked him in the eyes and he was shocked by her words and her experience.

  “Does that happen to you, Shimmy? It’s been a while since you were shot. Do you think of the ways you could have avoided it or done things differently, or do you just keep reliving that moment when you felt like you lost and they won, even though you survived?” she asked him.

  Shimmy caressed her hair and didn’t look away from her.

  “I think about surviving while my other friends died around me. I wonder how I got shot four times and lived. What happened to you, Cali?”

  * * * *

  She looked at Warren, who lay on the opposite side and behind her, then toward Culhane and Dominick, who now sat on the bed listening.

  “I was grabbed on the street at night. Graduation was the next morning, but I already got all my stuff ready and a few interviews lined up, and one solid offer at a company in Manhattan. They came out of nowhere. Two men dressed casually, they whisked me toward a waiting vehicle, and as I fought to get free I was stuck with something.”

  “They drugged you?” Dominick asked. She nodded her head and Shimmy caressed her back as he held her next to him.

  “I woke up in a cold, dark place. I know now it was the marina near the docks. They kept me down below for days. I could smell the water, the fish combined with a rancid smell. I thought that I was going to die there. There were dogs that were trained to intimidate.” She looked toward the doorway, knowing that Smith and Wesson were downstairs. The guys didn’t know how they would react to her, and especially at the sounds of lovemaking. It seemed the dogs were automatically protective of her.

  “Were there others?” Culhane asked.

  “Not women. There were men who were tortured worse than me. I could hear them screaming and begging for mercy, and also the dogs barking and growling. I don’t even know if the dogs bit or attacked. It was horrible. They moved me from the cage every so often and when they did to let me use the bathroom and stretch out, the dogs bit at my ankles and the guards let them mess with me. I had cuts and bites all over.”

  “Jesus, what did they want with you?” Dominick asked.

  “I didn’t know. When they moved me to another location and they beat me, I started to realize that no one was coming for me. They mentioned my dad being a detective and that he screwed them over and he was a dead man. That they were going to find him and bring him there to watch me suffer as they raped me and cut me up in pieces.”

  “Your dad was investigating these men and they took you in revenge for something?” Warren asked her.

  “I don’t really know. My father said later that he was working undercover and busted them and big plans they had. They were Cuban and came after him. He didn’t know his cover was blown until I was taken. I was so scared and days turned into weeks and finally one day when the guards were not paying attention I saw the open window of opportunity to escape and took it.”

  “What did you do?” Shimmy asked her.

  “I attacked the one guard and tried to get his weapon.” She lifted her arm and stretched it out.

  “He broke it in three places while I struggled to get the gun.” />
  “Three places?” Warren asked.

  “Yes, and when I finally got the gun and was scared out of my mind, I shot him. He went down and then other bullets were going off. They were shooting at me and I ran for the exit, dodging those bullets until the one guy appeared out of nowhere, aimed, fired, and I took the hit. I screamed and shot my gun and he went down. I got the hell out of there and ran. It was in the night, and they just couldn’t find me until they let the dogs out and I was forced to jump into the river to survive.”

  “That’s incredible. My God, Cali, you were so brave. I can’t believe you got out alive.”

  “But there were other injuries to you. You said Marlena and her husbands had to transfer you from one hospital to another and then bring you here,” Culhane questioned her.

  “There’s no need for all the details about how they tortured me. I was bruised everywhere, a total mess. They would shove things at me in the cage. Hit me with batons and the barrels of guns. I had the broken arm and the bullet wound. I nearly lost my arm from the severity of my injuries. I had a concussion, was undernourished, and needed IVs and medication. I had bacteria in my system that needed intense antibiotics or I could have died. So you see, even when I escaped and was free, there was still the possibility of death.”

  “And your father? What happened in the investigation? Did he find the men that took you?” Shimmy asked her.

  She took a deep breath and sighed. She laid her head against Shimmy’s chest.

  “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him. When I got to a safe place I called him. He came for me and he told me that it was his fault. That his cover was blown and he didn’t know until it was too late. He called Peter, knew him from high school or something. I wound up here and he called a few times a week at first, but then the calls were further apart, and now I haven’t heard from him in six weeks.”

  Shimmy caressed her back. “I’m sorry, baby. Do you want us to try and find him?” he asked.

  “Oh, God, no. No, I shouldn’t even have told you all of this. My father was vague and those men could still be looking for me or for him. I think he may be trying to keep his distance, just in case.”

  “But how do you know you’d be safe in Repose?” Culhane asked her.

  “I guess he feels that no one will find me here. I just don’t know.”

  “Well, you are safe here with us. We’ll help you get through this, and if you want to find your father, we have connections that could do that. Hell, we could take him in and protect him with you,” Dominick said to her.

  She felt the tears fill her eyes. “I don’t even know if he’ll accept this. To be honest, our relationship wasn’t perfect. In fact, he distanced himself a lot over the years and we weren’t close. I think he’s out of my life forever, and it’s just another reality I have to face.”

  * * * *

  It was late when Cali and Shimmy fell asleep in one another’s arms. Culhane watched them, his heart heavy for what both of them went through and how they truly needed protection and love.

  Love. He hadn’t ever really been in love before, but he supposed that this was exactly what was happening here. Cali was becoming their centerpiece, the missing part to their family circle and a bond stronger than anything else. Peter, Wayde, and Cole knew what happened to her, and more than likely, Cesar, too. No wonder he accepted their declaration of guardianship over her. He seemed relieved, like it gave him peace of mind, and he even asked that Culhane and his brothers talk to Peter and his brothers to let them know.

  When Dominick told them they were concerned, hesitant even, he now understood why. They feared she was still in danger, and now that fear was something they shared with Cali, too. He looked at Warren and Dominick now. Dominick stood up and nodded for him and Warren to follow. Warren slid out from behind Cali, who remained wrapped around Shimmy.

  When they got into the hallway and headed downstairs the dogs stirred but didn’t make any loud noises.

  Dominick looked at him and then Warren.

  “We need to do something,” he said. Culhane exhaled but kept a straight face. He was thinking the same thing.

  “What do you mean?” Warren asked.

  “You know damn well what I mean. We need to protect her. She’s special. She’s the one and we know it. She completes this family. Hell, I want her to meet mom and the dads.”

  “Jesus, Dominick, we haven’t spoken to them in months,” Culhane stated.

  “She calls every week. She asks us to dinner. When she calls next time we say yes and we bring Cali to meet them,” Dominick said to him.

  Culhane felt a mix of emotions. He did things his way, and was a grown man. He let his mom and dads know long ago that he was a soldier, a Green Beret first and foremost. He wasn’t going to share every detail of his missions, his fears, and his sadness. He was living his life and so were his brothers. At least they were together and hadn’t drifted apart.

  “I’m fine with that. I think Shimmy might give them a hard time. You know how mom worries about him most,” Warren said.

  “Just like Cali, but she gets to him easier.”

  “That’s because he’s in love with her. Hell, I think that’s exactly what we all feel. Making love to a woman never felt like it does with Cali,” Warren said.

  “Hell yeah to that,” Dominick said and they chuckled.

  Culhane kind of liked them talking like this and sharing these feelings for Cali.

  “I think we should make plans to meet with Peter and his brothers, maybe Cesar too and go over things. She’s our woman now, our responsibility and despite her finally telling us some of what happened to her, I think there’s more to find out,” Dominick said to them.

  “I agree, but we need to be careful. No snooping on our own. We talk to them first,” Culhane said.

  “Agreed. Now can we get back to bed? It’s three a.m. and I want to be snuggled up against my woman for the rest of the night.”

  “If Shimmy will let her. He’s hogging her big time,” Dominick said and they laughed.

  Culhane followed them up. “We all need to get used to sharing, although I’d be up for another round of taking her together,” Culhane said.

  “Goddamn, Culhane, really? How the hell am I supposed to go back to sleep?” Warren asked, sounding all annoyed.

  “She needs her rest. We took her several times alone and then together. Let her be,” Culhane said and they all went into the bedroom and got comfortable surrounding her and Shimmy. Culhane leaned back with the pillow on the recliner and watched them sleep. The curves of her body, her long brown hair cascaded along the pillow and Shimmy with a possessive hand over her ass as her face was smushed up against his chest. He could get used to this picture. Used to Cali living in their home where they could love her for the rest of their lives.

  Chapter Six

  “We don’t know any more than what she told you,” Peter said to Culhane, Dominick, Shimmy, and Warren. Cesar leaned back against the chief of police’s SUV and they gathered around the trucks by Peter’s house. Cali was out with Marlena.

  “There has to be more. Did her father indicate if the men who took her are still trying to find her?” Dominick asked.

  “He hasn’t called in more than a month,” Wayde said and then glanced at Peter with a sad expression.

  “Why is that? It’s his daughter,” Warren asked.

  “We, as well as Cali, think that he’s cutting the ties. At first we thought he was trying to protect her, but now it’s like he’s breaking things off. We don’t know if he’s still a detective working the case, working undercover, or if he’s on the run, maybe even dead,” Wayde added.

  “Dead? Seriously?” Shimmy asked.

  “She’s been here for over a year and there hasn’t been any indication that anyone is looking for her. When I got the call from Jack, her father, he was desperate to keep her safe and alive. Then it was like he wanted to forget about her and just move on. I don’t even have a means of contacting him,
” Peter told them.

  “That’s terrible. No wonder she’s so upset. He abandoned her after all she went through. What about the cops, the people her father worked with? None of them care about this or are going after the men?” Shimmy asked.

  “We don’t know and he said to not ask questions and definitely don’t contact the NYPD,” Cole said.

  “Listen, the best thing to do is be aware of the potential for danger. We all keep a watch over Cali and report anything suspicious. I’ve got friends in New York, just like you do, Culhane. If there’s something going on, then we make contact and do it under the radar,” Cesar said.

  They talked a little more about what to do and then parted ways. None of them were happy about the situation, or about leaving Cali, but they didn’t have much choice. This was the situation they were dealing with, and it wouldn’t be smart to be so overprotective that they smothered her. Cali could push them away, especially since the relationship was new.

  “What do you think?” Warren asked Culhane, Shimmy, and Dominick.

  “I think we sit tight and hope that the danger doesn’t come around here, but if it does, we take action, the way we know it should be done, and we protect her with all we have.”

  * * * *

  Cali was in the shopping center with Marlena and the boys. She walked down the other aisle to buy some shampoo and conditioner. She was going to buy a different brand, but then thought of Warren and how he was sniffing her hair and lying over her in bed this morning. He complimented the scent of her perfume as he ran his fingers through her hair before taking her from behind. Her cheeks felt warm and she was turning to see if anyone was there when she felt the hand on her hip and something press to her back.