Hope's Delta (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Delta Team Three Book 5)
Page 1
Hope’s Delta (Special Forces: Operation Alpha)
Delta Team 3, Book Five
Riley Edwards
Contents
Foreword
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Foreword
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Other Books by Riley Edwards
About the Author
More Special Forces: Operation Alpha World Books
Books by Susan Stoker
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
© 2020 ACES PRESS, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this work may be used, stored, reproduced or transmitted without written permission from the publisher except for brief quotations for review purposes as permitted by law.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please purchase your own copy.
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the Special Forces: Operation Alpha Fan-Fiction world!
If you are new to this amazing world, in a nutshell the author wrote a story using one or more of my characters in it. Sometimes that character has a major role in the story, and other times they are only mentioned briefly. This is perfectly legal and allowable because they are going through Aces Press to publish the story.
This book is entirely the work of the author who wrote it. While I might have assisted with brainstorming and other ideas about which of my characters to use, I didn’t have any part in the process or writing or editing the story.
I’m proud and excited that so many authors loved my characters enough that they wanted to write them into their own story. Thank you for supporting them, and me!
This series is special to me as the five authors writing in the Delta Team Three series took a team that I introduced in Shielding Kinley and made them their own.
READ ON!
Xoxo
Susan Stoker
About the book
Hope Mitchell lived her life on the outskirts, no attachments, no friends, no family. All of this by design. All of it because she knew the pain that came when you lost someone who meant something to you. She’d sworn off men long ago, the last time she fell in love she’d invited the devil into her heart and she’d lost, huge. That was to say, she knew better than to let the larger-than-life Delta Force operator into her life. Hope recognized the risk but Beau had promised her he would fight for her and he did—until he left her more broken than he found her.
Beau “Jangles” Talbot had promised himself he wouldn’t fall for a woman while he was still in the Army. He’d seen it too many times before—a good woman getting worn down by the demands of being a military wife. But when he meets the gorgeous bartender Hope Mitchell, he does the unthinkable and falls in love. Then his worst nightmare comes to fruition and Hope is thrown into a dangerous situation because of him and his teammates.
One mission—five women—everything is on the line. Jangles and his teammates have one shot at getting it right, one chance at extraction, or every man on his team loses the women they love.
** Hope's Delta is the 5th and final book in the Delta Team Three Series. Each book is a stand-alone, with no cliffhanger endings.
** Operation Alpha is a fan-fiction world for Susan Stoker's novels. The characters in this series were introduced in Stoker's Delta Team Two series, specifically, book two, Shielding Kinley. You don't have to read that book to be engrossed in this series, but why wouldn't you want to? Enjoy!
Chapter 1
Beau “Jangles” Talbot sat on the edge of his bed, looked down at the long, wavy brown hair splashed across the pillowcase, and the area around his heart constricted.
“Babe?” he called, and watched as she stirred but did not wake.
I need to end this.
He knew it, but he wasn’t going to.
“Hope, baby, wake up,” he tried again, and swept the heavy fall of hair off her bare shoulder.
The pads of his fingers skimmed over her warm, smooth skin. Hope opened her pretty brown eyes and Jangles fought the urge to crawl back into bed.
“Call out?” she mumbled.
“Yeah.”
“Damn.”
Damn was right. Since Jangles and his team had transferred to Texas, they’d gone out frequently. Such was the life of a Special Operations Group. Terrorists didn’t have a set schedule of operation. Extremist groups didn’t limit their bombings to the hours between nine and five. And kidnappers and guerilla forces didn’t give the first fuck he was being pulled from his bed in the middle of the night. Further, they didn’t care Jangles was leaving a sexy, hot, willing woman in that bed.
“You got Buster?” Jangles asked.
“You know I do. Go save the world.”
No whiny complaints he was rolling out of bed. No bitching about where he was going or when he was coming back. No questions—period.
Just easy acceptance.
That was why he needed to end this.
Whatever this was, Jangles had to put a stop to it. He should’ve done it months ago. Hell, he never should’ve started it with Hope in the first place.
“I’ll text you when we get back.”
Hope’s hand came up, her fingers stroked the side of his face, and her eyes gentled.
“Be safe, Beau.”
That was why he hadn’t ended it. Jangles was addicted to her gentle eyes and soft pleas for his safe return.
“Always am, babe. Go back to sleep.”
Jangles leaned forward, kissed her shoulder, then her forehead, and lingered just long enough to breathe her in.
Then he grabbed his bag and walked out the door, leaving Hope naked in his bed.
He did that, secure in the knowledge she’d be waiting for him when he got home. So he wasn’t going to end it—proving he was a selfish prick, but not a stupid man. He knew Hope Mitchell was the best thing that had happened to him since he’d joined the Army.
Chapter 2
Hope Mitchell scanned the bar. For a Tuesday it was busy, not packed, but there was a crush of patrons. The mood was mellow as it would be. Baby Face, better known as BF, didn’t put up with rowdy. He may have been in a wheelchair after losing both his legs in combat, but that didn’t stop her boss from being well…the boss.
He also owned the shooting range next door—therefore, he had a plethora of firearms at his disposa
l. Not that he’d ever had to brandish one of those weapons, but everyone knew he could and would if someone cut up in his bar and made a ruckus. One of the many reasons Hope loved her boss—he took care of his people. And he considered anyone coming into his establishment to enjoy a drink, a game of darts, or time around the pool table his people.
“Need another, Lefty?” Hope asked when she finished her scan.
“No thanks, Hope, driving tonight,” Lefty returned.
“Water then?”
“That’d be appreciated.” Lefty tipped his chin and Hope’s gaze slid to the woman next to him.
His woman, Kinley, was laughing at something Gillian had said and Hope knew Lefty was in for a long night.
Neither woman looked like she wanted to leave anytime soon.
The kernel of jealousy that had taken root made itself known. Hope hadn’t meant to allow it to lodge in her belly, she certainly hadn’t given it permission to stick, then to grow, but there it was—Hope was jealous.
Hope set Lefty’s water in front of him and a fresh bowl of corn nuts to the side knowing Lefty didn’t eat from a communal dish—neither did Trigger, Oz, Brain, Lucky, Doc, or Grover. Being as she was a good bartender, and not because she watched Jangles with more inspection than was necessary, she knew that he and his teammates—Merlin, Zip, Duff, and Woof—would eat anything. Although Zip and Woof did it grumbling.
Nope, I’m just being a good bartender and manager. It’s my job to pay attention.
“You’re too good to us.” Lefty smiled.
“Yeah, yeah, you always say that. Not playing darts tonight?” Hope asked, and jerked her head toward the back room where Trigger and Oz were, in an effort to cover her reaction to his praise.
“Nope. Tired of hearing Trigger complain when he loses.”
Hope’s gaze went back to Kinley, then to Gillian, and a little farther down the bar to see Destiny and Gwen, and she knew he was full of shit.
That jealousy knotted tighter.
Gage “Lefty” Haskins was not sitting at the bar because Trigger complained when he lost a game of darts—though that was the truth; Trigger was a poor sport when he lost. Lefty was sitting sentry. He was watching over his woman, Trigger’s woman, and even though Gwen and Destiny were two stools away because there were already patrons sitting at the bar when they arrived, he was watching over Merlin and Zip’s women, too.
Hope didn’t need a man to protect her—she’d been doing that herself for a long time. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t jealous of the women. But not for reasons one would think. Hope’s envy steamed from their ability to have a normal relationship.
Hope’s cell vibrated in her back pocket with a text. The sad truth was only three people had her number. Jake the other bartender at the Ugly Mug, her boss BF, and Jangles.
Jake was working the bar next to her and it was well past BF’s bedtime, so that left one person.
Hope didn’t fight the smile as she pulled the phone from her pocket and slid her thumb across the screen. She also didn’t bother to stop the anticipation she felt. Jangles had been gone two very long weeks.
Hey, babe. Just landed. If you’re not busy after you close the bar, I want to see you.
That was Jangles.
That was what they had.
No I missed yous, no expectations.
And that was a-okay with Hope. That was what she’d agreed to when she’d accepted Jangles’ first invitation. He didn’t mince words, he didn’t sugarcoat it, he was straightforward—no commitment, no ties, no promises. Light and easy, nothing heavy, no swapping childhood stories and dreams. Fun, laughter, and loads of awesome sex.
Since Hope had no interest in ever talking about her childhood, she’d long ago given up her dreams, and she was not a woman who wanted to be tied to a man, this worked for her. Spectacularly so. Especially the sex.
Hope tapped out a quick message and stowed her phone back in her pocket.
“Only time I see you really smile,” Lefty muttered.
“What was that?”
Hope lifted her gaze to meet Lefty’s and she watched as something passed over his features. A look she’d seen less and less of now that he had Kinley. It was sweet, made sweeter because Hope knew Lefty was a badass Delta Force operator, even though he’d never told her that’s what he was.
Hope had worked in Killeen, Texas, long enough to spot the Delta guys. They had a little more swagger, a little more confidence, a little more edge. They were also quieter about it. The Rangers came in kitted out in Ranger gear, the infantry guys came in full of bravado, but not the Deltas. They didn’t need the attention nor did they want it.
The problem with that was, they were also the most observant.
Therefore they all knew what Hope and Jangles were doing and they knew what it was—friends with benefits. And cat sitting.
Though Jangles had long ago stopped texting her while he was out on a mission to ask about his cat, Buster. Oh, he still texted, but they’d changed, simply asking her how she was doing. The subtle shift felt awesome, but it also scared the pants off her. In an effort not to freak out when the texts came, she reminded herself they were friends and the gesture was a friendly thing to do.
At least Hope thought it was. She didn’t actually have friends so she couldn’t know for sure.
“That smile. You only get it when—”
Destiny cut off Lefty when she called down the bar. “Hope, when you have a minute can you please close out our tab?”
Right.
Destiny and Gwen had gotten the same text she did, or a version of it. Their men were home from assignment and they were anxious to get home.
Hope didn’t have a home. She had an RV on BF’s property.
“Sure thing, babe,” Hope returned.
“Duty calls.” Hope gave Lefty a wink and walked away.
Hours later than he thought he’d be, Jangles let himself into his house. Buster greeted him at the door. The cat meowed and rubbed her body against his ankle.
The feline had been a gift from his teammate, Woof. Being as Jangles was the only sucker of the group, Woof had dumped Buster on him when she was just a kitten after he’d found the little thing on post. Why animals of all varieties seemed to gravitate to his friend was a mystery for the ages.
Jangles hadn’t wanted a cat, he didn’t even want a house plant—if it needed to be fed, watered, or cared for, Jangles wanted no part of it. Yet, he’d kept the damn furball. Then he decided he liked her because she was a cat, therefore, didn’t want much from him except for the occasional cuddle, full bowl of food and water, and a clean litterbox. Other than that, Buster roamed the house like she was the queen of the castle, making Hope her princess.
Hope.
The woman who was right then in his bed.
He reached down to give his cat a quick rub before he made his way through the house, not bothering to look around. He knew what he’d find, the same thing he found every time he’d come from a mission and left Hope in his house. The kitchen would be cleaned from whatever mess they’d left before he got called away. His mail would be sorted. And depending on whether or not she’d decided to spend the night and hang out while he was gone, his clothes would be washed and put away. He’d told her many times she didn’t need to clean his house or do his laundry, but she simply rolled her eyes and told him to shut it.
Jangles had given her a key so she could watch Buster while he was gone. After he’d given Hope a ride home after work because her car had broken down and he saw where she lived, he’d extended the invitation for her to stay at his house while he was gone.
Truth be told, if he wasn’t sleeping with her, she’d be the perfect roommate. And not because she cleaned and did his laundry—Hope Mitchell was cool people. Chill, funny, always smiling, in a good mood, and up for fun. And not just the kind they made between the sheets. She just liked to have a good time. But she also knew how to be quiet. She didn’t ask questions he couldn’t answer, she did
n’t prod and bitch.
Hindsight being what it was, he never should’ve started sleeping with her and instead asked her to move in as a roommate. Losing the physical part of what they had would suck, and that was putting it mildly—she was a knockout. Great with her hands, excellent with her mouth, and she knew how to work her body in ways that sent Jangles over the edge. But one day he’d cut her loose, and then he’d lose the rest of her. The funny, the sweet, the woman he could have a beer with, go to the shooting range with, run the obstacle course with even though he smoked her ass every time. She still went back for more and did it with a smile and good humor.
If Jangles was the type of man who believed he deserved a woman, Hope would be his.
But he wasn’t.
He hit his bedroom and his chest started to burn.
Hope on her stomach, she’d kicked the covers off, giving him an eyeful—his tee bunched around her waist, red panties that left a lot of cheek on display, one long leg straight, the other cocked at an angle. She was turned away from him so he couldn’t see her face, though he didn’t need to. He’d spent a lot of hours memorizing every inch of her, including what she looked like when she slept.
Jangles quickly peeled off his clothes, careful not to pull off the bandage the major had redressed after she’d checked the stitches Zip had given him in the field. That was the reason Jangles was late getting home. The reason why Hope was now sleeping in his bed instead of awake and meeting him at the door.