THE WATCHERS: 6 Military Romance Bundle

by Kristina Weaver

  “Mission?” Jericho snarls, and it’s here that I see Gunny hesitate before looking back at them all.

  “The Watchers.”

  Chapter Six

  Trace

  The looks on their faces, especially Jess’s, make me cringe a little before I can find a way to lock it all back down and focus on what I’m doing here. It’s not all about to change just because I’m being honest and open with them, I get that.

  In fact, I sort of banked on these guys to keep the level of suspicion they’re currently sporting. It’ll make things a heck of a lot harder on my old unit if they stay alert, and honestly, I wouldn’t respect them as much as I do if they’d just caved and decided to welcome me back with open arms. No matter how much I want that.

  Jess’s narrowed eyes piss me off though. I won’t lie. The woman’s been glaring at me like a bug under her expensive heel whenever she deigns to look at me.

  Not that I don’t deserve her scorn. I completely do. But after watching all my guys find love and contentment, I am not about to go back to the darkness I’ve set for myself.

  No fucking way. I want happiness and children and barbecues and the whole shebang—with her. Because, while love is not in the cards for us—I just don’t do that shit—I do know that no other woman will do it for me.

  She’s it.

  I trust no one as much as I trust Jessica Keene, and to me that is the best basis for any relationship that a guy like me can ever have. Screw love and friendship and every other soft emotion most women look for.

  For me, it’s all about knowing that I can go to sleep beside her at night and not get a knife in the gut for my efforts.

  “You’re here for us?”

  “Yes and no. As far as my people know, I’m in with you now, and you think I’ve returned after years of recovery and physical therapy, just like Rachel…the real Rachel. Unofficially, I’m here to warn you all that you have certain information that Shadow doesn’t want revealed.”

  “And Fazir?” Jess asks, making me smile again because, dammit, leave it to my girl to hit on that right off the bat.

  “Well, here’s where things get tricky. Shadow, as a ‘friendly deal’ with Fazir, has agreed to let him have you all. Apparently, you blew one of the strongholds where his second wife was hiding, and he’s been planning his revenge for a while. In exchange for certain information, they’ve agreed to give you over.”

  “After you neutralize us, of course,” King growls, his eyes going hard.

  I incline my head in answer and resist a smile when Lex leaves for a minute and returns with beers for us all and water for Jess, his show of friendship making me struggle not to react.

  “Thanks. And yes, it’s my job to neutralize you, all in one fell swoop by asking you to accompany me on a mission in South America. Apparently, they think you’ll help me on some faux-revenge quest that they’ve cooked up just because I was once one of you. Little do they know…”

  That they all hate me, I think, watching them watch me, suspiciously. I don’t blame them for this reaction, but dammit, I do not enjoy having my own family eyeball me like I’m some sort of roach.

  Not that it’s not true. Strictly speaking, I’m still running game on them, but to be honest, I’m not feeling too guilty about that right at this minute because in the end, I’ll be out, they’ll be safe, and Uncle Sam’s black ops can all go fuck themselves.

  That’s a win in my book.

  “So, Fazir is coming this way?” Storm demands, his eyes going hard.

  “Yes, but don’t worry, your girls are all safe. I have my own guys on him as we speak, and as far as I know, Shadow is waiting for word from me.”

  “So…what? You all go down south to do this ‘quest’ and disappear?”Jess snorts her question at me and rolls her eyes while avoiding mine, something that’s started to morph from irksome into plain infuriating for me.

  Logically, I get that I betrayed her and almost got her killed when my own plans didn’t go quite as smoothly as I’d hoped, but throw a man a bone here. I’ve spent the last years ensuring that the six of them actually had lives to go back to post military, and you’d think they’d be a little more appreciative.

  “That’s the plan. At least until we can figure out exactly what it is that Shadow wants from you all. I’m not all-in on the specifics, but from what it is I’ve heard, you guys are sitting on something that could potentially cripple them if you realize what it is. My recommendation is that you get Kinsley on whatever files or backups you have while we come together and figure out a way to play smokescreens with Shadow. We need a bargaining chip to take to my guy in the Senate.”

  Preferably quickly, I think, watching Jess’s breasts rise and fall, tempting me with a shot of lust that is so strong I feel my shaft lengthen and start to pound.

  I remember every touch, taste, and feel of her body against mine, and as far as I am concerned, I am so not in with waiting to make her mine now that I’ve decided that I want more—to live and to be part of something again.

  It’s taken me months of watching, struggling, and wrestling with the darkness within me, but in the end, not even duty could sway me once I made up my mind.

  Watching her live a shitty, solitary life while I crawled around in the pits of hell did not make me happy, but I was okay. That was till some swinging dick with a cheesy grin swaggered his pansy ass to her doorstep and made it very clear to me that while I had the best of intentions, I don’t have the soul to carry them out.

  I told myself that I was going to duck out and leave her to go on with her life, have a family, love…

  Hell, I fooled myself into thinking that ruining her career and ensuring that she’d be safe and alive to love another and give him children was what I wanted.

  And it was, for years, as I watched her live alone and miserable. Call me a bastard, but once I saw the asshole and realized she could potentially be moving on from me…

  I can’t let that happen because it kills me to think of my Jess screwing some asshole while I’m alone and pining for her. She wants dick? I’ll give it to her. She wants dating and all that superfluous shit? I’ll grit my teeth through it till I can get her home to fuck her brains out.

  And if she’s longing for children—the way I know she is because even though my Jess always said it wasn’t for her, I’ve seen the sadness in her eyes when she looks at them—I’ll fill her so full she’ll be waddling around, spitting out babies for the next ten to fifteen years.

  She’s all mine.

  ***

  Jess

  Whatever he’s planning, I don’t like it. Let’s not forget this is the same man who betrayed us all and left me without a second thought years ago—when I needed him most. And that left me alone because my circumstances had forced me to leave behind everyone who ever meant anything to me.

  I once believed that no matter what went down or what happened between us that he would love me enough to at least leave me something…

  To what?

  Something to what Jess? Let’s get real here for a hot second, lady. You chose to fall for a man who told you plainly that the job was his life. He never made you promises or painted fairytales for you.

  No, but those last few weeks when we’d steal away to our secret rendezvous, he was so tender and loving that for a moment out of time I actually believed that he was all-in like I was.

  I’d risked my career, flushed it down the toilet, because I wanted more than what I’d planned for myself. I lost my sister and family because he’d pushed me to the point where even after the job was done, I kept lying to others around me. To protect him.

  And here he is once again, and despite my best efforts and justified anger, I still can’t seem to stop looking at the man and feeling things I know will only get my heart broken. Truth? I want him!

  So much that even sporting cracked but healing ribs and a beat-down body, I would jump him and ravage his ass if I could. How messed up is that?

  All
these feelings keep coming back. Memories. Dreams of what we once were. Hot sweaty sex. Good Lord, the man is great at sex, something I can’t quite get myself to forget as I sit at the kitchen table two days later and mess with the food on my plate as everyone around me spitballs ideas I know will never see the light of day.

  Gunny…no sorry, Trace as he’s now confessed to us all is his real name, Trace Matthews to be exact, will have already planned whatever he wants done down to the second, and they’ll follow those plans, unbeknownst to them because that’s what he’s good at, isn’t he?

  Getting others to believe one thing while silently moving them into place?

  “You okay, Jess?”

  I look over at Lenny and smile, ducking my eyes away when Storm—since I’m no longer allowed to call him Nick—glares at me. The man despises me and is only suffering my presence here because Lex threatened to take me home with him and his wife if he didn’t quit his shit.

  Oh yeah, have I mentioned we’re all stuck here at the Storm residence while this is going down? Yep, all of us are here since the great and mighty Trace Matthews decided that sticking together would be best.

  “Fine. Just tired,” I answer.

  And feeling more than a little awkward because I can feel Trace looking at me—all the time, every second. As if he has a right to stare at me.

  Which he doesn’t and anyway, it’s darn weird.

  “Well, we’ve got everything set up for Kinsley to look through and—”

  My statement is cut off when the man himself interrupts, making me feel worse than awkward.

  “Did you tell everyone that your sister hardly talks to you?”

  The chatter around us all stops, and I feel my face heat torturously when I look up to see them all focusing on me, their expressions a range of shock, annoyance, and suspicion from Storm.

  “No, because that’s no one’s business and quite frankly irrelevant to the issues at hand right now.”

  “Really? Seems strange to me that you wouldn’t tell them everything that happened before you broke things off with Storm,” he muses, turning to the others. “Did you know that after Echo she was canned, and then her sister recovered from her accident and now refuses to talk to her most of the time unless Jess calls and begs to see her nephew? Did you know that she only kept being Rachel afterward because she was too loyal to me to tell you all the truth, even though she knew that you’d hate her if she didn’t?”

  Why he’s saying these things is beyond me, but I feel myself tense, my heart tripping wildly, as Storm and the others turn to me, their expressions demanding answers.

  “Is that true?”

  I don’t feel like or really want to answer that question, not at present when, honestly, I’m feeling as raw as I am angry. So angry. I lost everything because I was loyal—to Trace, to these men, to Rachel, who was only alltoo willing to let me be her while she hid from the world.

  I’ve battled it all for so long, just telling myself that it was done and I had moved on, but the truth is I never did. And now, here with everyone—women folk excluded in my emotional upheaval—I’m feeling all kinds of rage bubble forth.

  I did it for them, all of them. And Nick, yes, I said his name and I fucking dare him to even protest, has no right to sit there looking at me this way. If not for my silence and sacrifice, they’d all be either dead, or they’d have been miserable, thinking that a man they loved like a brother had betrayed them before saving us all that night.

  “What if it is? So what? It’s in the past any which way we look at it, and anyway, Nick, honestly, what fucking difference does that even make? I did what I had to, as stupid as that was, and let you all continue with your blissfully ignorant lives. As for Gunny? He can go fuck himself,” I say savagely, smirking darkly when the ladies all start hooting and hollering in unison.

  Jericho grins, and I see Lex, King, and Blaze all bite their lips, as I stare between the two men I’ve loved at different times in my life, albeit in different ways.

  “See, Cleo baby, told ya she wasn’t just going to cave. Seems he’s not all that hot, is he?” he grunts, glaring at Trace.

  Jericho’s jealousy is hilarious. I have to admit to feeling my own lips twitch a little along with Gu— Trace’s when Cleo blushes and frowns at her husband.

  “I said it was obvious that the two of them have a thing and that I don’t blame her, even if he is a big poop head. Stop frowning, Jericho, or your face will end up staying that way forever.”

  They continue bantering as we eat, and I have a hell of a time keeping my eyes on my plate and off Trace, even though the man doesn’t seem all that concerned with looking anywhere else but at me.

  Letting myself slip into the past is not smart, but it happens all the same, and soon, I’m right back in that little hotel room, the sheets wrecked beneath me as Gunny makes love to me.

  I can feel his hands on my skin, gliding, sliding all over me, his eyes and mouth following the path his hands have mapped out. Oh, his mouth.

  I writhe with the feeling of that mouth suckling at my nipples as his hand smooths lower, creeping down, down, fingers slipping into the wet crevice of my sex.

  Friction. I gasp when he sets up a steady friction between my lips, teasing the swollen bud now throbbing for his touch but not quite going close enough to give me the pressure I need. I moan, loudly, my hands digging into his hair as the blended pleasure from his stroking fingers and mouth coalesce to make me scream out in pleasure.

  It’s not an orgasm that makes me react, oh no, Gunny isn’t the type of man to just dive into sex. He savors before he unleashes himself on me, and tonight is no different.

  And yet it is, I think as I grunt my arousal and shove at him, leading him where I want his mouth right now. It’s different because I know now, tonight, without a shadow of a doubt that I love him completely.

  Love. I never wanted it, and yet here it is. And I want—

  My thoughts are cut off when he suddenly bites down, grabbing my clit between his teeth in a gentle grip I feel straight to my womb. I want to scream, and yet I can’t because the pleasure is…

  “Gun, don’t tease,” I manage after long minutes of panting and writhing as he starts flicking his tongue over me at the exact same time a finger breaches my sheath.

  It’s so good I can’t help but shove closer and pray that he’ll take pity on me for once, just this once, and get me off quickly.

  He doesn’t though, and I feel myself cry out when he starts playing inside me, tapping against a spot that has me seeing stars it feels so good.

  “Who’s in charge here?”

  His growl against my sex is hard and harsh, but I feel no fear, only arousal, as he starts curling his finger inside me, rubbing up against the sensitive inner wall that is the center of my pleasure.

  Gunny isn’t a meek, gentle lover. He’s hard and dominant and never ever fails to remind me that in this place, when it’s just us, he won’t allow anything but complete surrender from me.

  His hardness turns me on even more, and instead of moving closer as I crave to, writhing my hips to force the climax I need, I pause and will myself to breathe through the need, holding completely still.

  “Tell me.”

  “You. You’re in charge,” I manage, just before I scream, a result of the instant bliss that hits me when he curls his finger again and strokes at my sheath.

  I’m mindless then, as he teases and torments, playing with me for so long that I’m sweating, so wet my thighs are glazed, and I’m out of my mind with need.

  Then, and only then, does he remove his hand and rear up over me, the condom-covered length of his erection pushing into me in one thrust of movement.

  Fullness. Completion. Joining. Love.

  I feel it all in that one perfect instant and almost come just from the feel of him throbbing deep inside me. I start to writhe—

  “Jess, you okay?”

  The question startles me, and I jerk back to the present with
a squeak to see them all staring at me in confusion, their expressions all concerned but for Nick who’s not even the littlest bit interested in me and Gu— Trace who’s still staring, only now I see his eyes flare back at me.

  “F-fine,” I wheeze, my body so filled with aroused agony that it hurts just sitting there.

  I blush despite years of training and the need not to show any reaction to Trace as he stares at me, making things a lot more awkward than I ever anticipated they could be.

  “Um, I think I’ll turn in now.”

  Chapter Seven

  Jess

  The morning air is crisp as I step out onto the back deck and stare out at the back yard from the newly erected back porch and the swing I’ve been cozied on for the last few minutes, a cup of coffee warming me from the inside out as I breathe and try to shake off the fatigue dogging me.

  I haven’t slept again, no surprise there since I almost combusted at one point when my stupid body kept trying to re-conjure the lust fest of memories I’d been attempting to ignore all night.

  Wanting Trace, this man whom I don’t know but do. It’s killing me because, dammit, I do want him, and I know I shouldn’t. I mustn’t because the odds of my getting out of that without breaking again are low—very low.

  Whatever this man is doing here, whatever he’s up to, even if his intentions are good, I don’t want any part of it but to maybe make amends to Nick and the guys and hope for maybe just a little bit of closure on what happened years ago.

  Okay, and maybe I’m dying to get in on the mission they’re putting together because I want to be there when they get to Fazir. I want it almost as badly as I seem to crave the feel of Trace against my skin, reigniting all the sexual need I’ve withheld and pushed away for so long.

  I’ve never wanted a man this badly, not even when I was with the mythical Gunny, and that is saying a lot. At that stage in my life, I was so ready for him, all the time, a good whiff of his scent could get me off.