Battle It Out

by Reese Knightley

  He chuckled, realizing how that probably sounded. “You don’t have anything to worry about.”

  “Oh yeah? When did you watch gay porn?” One sexy blond eyebrow lifted.

  “Through the years when I was single.” When he couldn’t fight his desires any longer. Then he’d meet a girl and he’d lock that part of himself away again. Only, it hadn’t worked the past couple of years.

  “You surpassed all my expectations.” He squeezed Isaac tightly.

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah,” he responded huskily against Isaac’s lips.

  “When are you heading out?” Isaac murmured, easing back.

  “This morning.” He stretched. “It’s a fifteen-hour drive.”

  Isaac made a face. “You should fly.”

  “Too last minute. It’s cheaper if I drive.”

  “So you’ll be gone five days?” Was that a whine in Isaac’s voice?

  He leaned in and kissed Isaac. “Ask me to stay.”

  “Stay.”

  Slapping around for his phone. he typed up a text. Isaac leaned over his shoulder to watch.

  Something important came up, I’ll be delayed. I’ll call you later.

  He hit send and tossed the phone.

  “Oh, important, I like that.”

  He grabbed Isaac and manhandled the laughing man back on the bed.

  “You are very important,” he said gruffly.

  Isaac’s expression softened and he found himself pulled to sit up against the headboard, their messing around put on hold. He didn’t mind as long as they were together.

  “I want to know you.”

  “You know me.” He frowned. Pieces of hair stuck out on Isaac’s head and he lifted a hand to finger the blond strands.

  “Well yeah, but there’s things I don’t know.”

  “Ask. I’m an open book.” He ran his hand down Isaac’s arm and linked their fingers.

  “Why’d you have so many girlfriends?”

  “Not so many over the years.” He shifted and glanced around. Isaac’s silence drew his gaze.

  “Okay, sheesh, I did,” he admitted.

  “So why didn’t you settle down and get married with one of them?”

  That was a fair question, so he thought about it and answered honestly, “I didn’t love any of them.”

  “That makes sense.” Something warm swirled in Isaac’s eyes.

  “My turn. You’ve had a lot of boyfriends.”

  “None that lasted, though,” Isaac acknowledged.

  “Why?”

  Isaac drew his hand from his, bent one leg, and rested his arm on the top of his knee.

  “I picked men who aren’t interested in commitment.”

  “Because of your dad?”

  He could see he’d surprised Isaac. That the man thought he wouldn’t get it, but he did get it. Isaac had been wounded in body and spirit from the abuse. And he’d move heaven and earth to help him through whatever he needed.

  “Yeah.”

  “Tell me.”

  And finally, Isaac turned to him and there in the quiet of the bedroom, Isaac told him a little bit more about his childhood.

  “I’ll end anyone who hurts you.” He gripped Isaac close.

  “I still haven’t forgiven my mother,” Isaac whispered.

  “Give it time, baby,” he whispered.

  Isaac hugged him tightly and then pulled back.

  “So, that’s pretty much why I avoided guys who want a relationship.”

  “I’m interested in a relationship with you,” he warned, making sure to be crystal clear about what he wanted.

  “It’s different with you.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah, I trust you.”

  It was easy to picture Isaac with a family one day.

  “You want kids someday?”

  Isaac blinked, eyes wide. “What kind of question is that?”

  He cupped Isaac’s cheek. “A good one considering what you went through as a kid.”

  Isaac’s head tipped in thought. “I don’t know, I never thought about it. Is that a game changer?”

  “No,” he whispered, trying to ease the stress in Isaac’s gaze. “I’m still here and if you think you’re getting rid of me, you’re not.”

  “Is that a threat?” Amusement sparked in those blue eyes.

  “A promise.”

  “I can live with that.”

  They talked for hours until it grew light and then they made their way to the kitchen to get food and then back to the bedroom. They talked, made love, laughed, and talked some more. Zane couldn’t remember a time when he’d felt so content. The only bummer was time.

  Two mornings later found him sitting up in the bed and punching the pillows behind him. He reached for yesterday’s newspaper and snapped it open. Not trying to be quiet because he wanted Isaac awake.

  “I supposed that’s my cue to get up.”

  “Oh, you’re awake,” he said, not trying to hide the laughter in his voice.

  “How about we get outside today.” Isaac rolled over and blinked sleepy eyes up at him.

  “That sounds per-”

  His words were cut off by the ping of Isaac’s cell phone. Isaac reached across his chest to grab it. Zane tossed the paper aside and took advantage. He ran his hands all over Isaac. He’d never get enough of him.

  “Damn it, Fury calls.” Isaac grimaced at the text and dropped the cell with a thud back on the side table.

  Zane pulled his mouth down into a sad pout.

  “Wonder how long our hellish fight will haunt us?”

  “I screwed up,” Isaac sighed. “I’m sorry I flew off the handle. Now we’re separated. It’s so fucked up.”

  “I’m just as much to blame.” That whole day had been a clusterfuck. Well, except for the kiss that had landed him here, so maybe not all a fuck up.

  “I need the shower first,” Isaac said and rose to his hands and knees to kiss him.

  “I’ll shower on base. If I come in there…” Zane warned.

  They’d made good use of the shower over the past few days, but he did live on base so all his stuff was there.

  “Good idea, if you came in with me, I’d be late,” Isaac teased.

  “You know, maybe you should be late.” He swiped out a hand to grab one arm, but Isaac slapped his chest and leaped out of reach with a laugh.

  “Down big boy. Next time, though.”

  “I’m holding you to that,” he said and lay back, satisfied with those words. Isaac disappeared into the bathroom.

  He’d finally made love with a man, and not once but numerous times. Not just any man, Isaac. All the wasted time he’d spent and there was no way to get that back, but he planned to make up for it.

  Rolling from the bed, he tugged on his jeans and socks and shoes. The shower was still running when he poked his head into the room.

  “I’m heading out.”

  Isaac pulled back the shower curtain and puckered his lips.

  In two seconds flat, he was across the room planting a kiss on those pretty lips. He hated leaving, but he promised Diesel he’d be there.

  “Call me later?”

  “Why don’t you call me when you get through with Fury,” he said. “I won’t know if you’re in the middle of a mission.”

  Isaac grinned. “I keep my phone in the vehicle. Call me, leave me a message so I can listen to it over and over.”

  “You’re strange, Thorne.”

  “You like strange.”

  “That I do,” he husked and ran his thumb over Isaac’s wet bottom lip.

  “Hey,” Isaac whispered.

  “Yeah?”

  “We’re exclusive, right?” Isaac licked water from his lips. “It’s important to me.”

  He let his gaze wander over the perfection of Isaac’s face, the body he now knew intimately hidden from view.

  “Damn fucking right we’re exclusive,” he growled.

  Isaac’s smile lit up the room, a
nd Zane leaned in and kissed those tempting wet lips for a long moment.

  “See you when you get back?” Isaac whispered.

  “You will,” he murmured and backed away from further temptation before he made his way toward the bathroom door.

  Looking back would have only made it harder to leave, so he continued into the room to snag his shirt.

  Reaching the kitchen, he tossed his shirt on the counter and pulled open the fridge.

  A gasp from the doorway echoed in the room.

  “Hey Lacy,” he said, pulling a bottle of orange juice from the fridge and pouring a glass.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “What are you doing here?” he countered.

  “I was gone a few days and came over to check on Bear.”

  “Bear’s fine.”

  “You didn’t answer me,” she said, squinting at his naked chest while he chugged down the juice.

  “No, I didn’t.”

  He placed the glass in the sink before tugging his t-shirt over his head. He didn’t owe her any explanations and made a mental note to have Isaac get the key back from her when he was home. Or at the very least, have her start respecting his privacy.

  “You really are an asshole.”

  Her true colors were showing. He strode past her out of the kitchen and lifted his keys from the entryway table before grabbing his jacket from the hallway coat hook.

  “You never gave him my message, did you?” He squinted across the distance at her.

  “What message?”

  “To meet me at the restaurant.”

  “I didn’t see him come home.” She glared back with hands perched on her hips.

  “Sure, you didn’t.” His lip curled and he let himself out of the house.

  Isaac

  He circled Link on the mat. Beckett and Eagle were coming around on his flank. It was three against one. Not a fair fight, but they weren’t worried about it being fair.

  Neither was he. He caught sight of his backup standing in the shadows off to the side of the training mat and gave the nod.

  Holden and Colin converged on the ring, making it even.

  “I see you wised up,” Eagle barked with laughter and lunged at him. He danced just out of Eagle’s reach as the room broke out into several fighting pairs.

  Colin took on Link, the hand to hand fucking brutal. Link had a lot of height and weight on Colin, but the smaller man was fucking fast, unbelievably so. He moved like liquid smoke in and around Link until the big man grew winded.

  Holden went right for Beckett. The smaller man flew beneath the bigger man and skidded on his knees, doing a slide across the floor. Beckett lunged up and swiped Holden’s feet out from under him. The bigger man went down with a crash.

  Link barked out a laugh when Holden landed hard on the mat. Distracted, Colin tagged Link and sent him stumbling back. Link cracked his neck from side to side and gave Colin a palms up, finger curl to come try that again.

  Beckett jumped up, hands on hips, and he stood over Holden.

  “Bigger men than you have tried to best me,” the small, adorable man smirked down at the dazed soldier.

  “I’d like to see you do that to me,” a voice sneered from the sidelines.

  Isaac dodged one too many times and found himself flat on his back, pinned beneath Eagle.

  “Bring it on,” Beckett challenged, stalking toward Brewster.

  “No!” Holden growled from the floor, but it appeared too late when there was a crash at the far end of the room.

  Eagle rolled away and Isaac jumped to his feet just as Brewster tossed Beckett into the folded-up chairs and tables far from the mat. How the hell had he done that when Beckett had just upended Holden? The source was revealed when he spotted Lance behind Brewster with a smirk.

  Beckett was down, clearly double tagged, and Isaac launched himself across the room. He was seconds behind Holden, who was out for blood after the bigger one, Lance.

  Link followed Holden and Lance out the door and Eagle ran to check on Beckett.

  “You fucker,” he snapped, stalking toward Brewster.

  Brewster charged at him with a cold, calculating look, but Isaac was ready. He’d taken down way bigger assholes. Using every ounce of his training, he close-lined Brewster and slammed the man to the floor.

  Following Brewster down, he grappled with the guy and spun, getting the upper hand. Twisting and turning, he wrapped his legs around Brewster’s neck and torso and clenched his legs tight. Locking the fucker in place, he pulled Brewster’s free arm backward, stretching the limb almost to the breaking point.

  Within two seconds, Brewster tapped. When he didn’t respond, the guy pounded on the floor.

  “Is that you tapping out?” He pulled harder on Brewster’s arm.

  “Yes!”

  “I can’t hear you.” He tugged harder.

  “Yes!” Brewster screamed.

  Isaac released the fucker and used his foot to push away from the groaning guy. He leaped up and hurried over to Beckett and Eagle.

  “I’m good,” Beckett said, still on his ass on the floor, but he was scooted back and leaning against the wall.

  “You good?” Eagle squinted at him. They’d both had a ringside seat to watch him take down Brewster.

  He snorted at Eagle and eyed Beckett.

  “You sure?” he probed.

  “Yeah, if Lance hadn’t tripped me, I would have taken that fucker down,” Beckett bitched.

  A loud crash came from the hallway.

  “Oh shit!” Eagle growled and ran for the door.

  Isaac reached out a hand and pulled Beckett up and the curly haired man sprang with a limping run after Eagle.

  A scuffle sounded behind him and he flinched, dropping low. Fuck! He’d turned his back on Brewster.

  Spinning around, he caught sight of Zane taking down Brewster in a body slam to the floor with a hand locked around the man’s throat.

  His heart pounded in his chest when a black barbell flew from Brewster’s hand. It landed with a loud crack on the floor before rolling to a stop. Had Brewster been aiming that at him?

  “It will be in your best interest to lay there until the MPs get here,” Zane told Brewster, hand squeezing the man’s throat.

  Brewster didn’t move a muscle.

  “You hear me?” Zane’s voice was dark, black, and lethal.

  “Yes, Master Sergeant,” Brewster wheezed.

  Shoving away from the prone man, Zane turned to him and drew him away from Brewster.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah.” He blinked down at the barbell. “I’m okay.”

  “He could have killed you.” Zane’s voice was so deadly quiet, he feared the man was going to kill Brewster. He gripped Zane’s forearm and hung on.

  Several Military police barreled into the room, forcing him and Zane further away as they took Brewster into custody.

  Because Zane was Master Sergeant and had been in the room, the MPs needed him to write up the report. Zane hesitated, slanting him a worried look.

  “I’m okay,” he assured Zane, wishing like hell he could kiss him.

  “I’ll call you.” Zane’s gaze swept over him before he turned and walked out of the room, taking some of the light with him.

  “What the fuck was that all about?” Joshua Greene and Archer Hall made their way over to him.

  “Just a disagreement.” He shrugged, his stomach swirling from Zane’s look.

  “I heard Brewster put one in Miller’s vest during training and Zane gave him a beat down,” Archer said.

  “Yeah, me too.” He nodded. “Maybe he thought he’d get back at Zane by attacking me.”

  “You put Brewster down earlier,” Greene grunted, his tattoos flashed on massive guns and veins popped along the side of the guy’s neck. He was a fucking massive mountain of a man.

  “It was impressive,” Greene continued.

  “Not as impressive as your fucking beard.” He grinned.

>   Archer barked out a laugh and Greene scowled at him before a small, almost there smirk quirked the corner of lips he could barely see through the hair.

  “Smart ass,” Greene grumbled.

  “So, Zane tells me,” he grinned.

  “I like you, Thorne.” Archer slapped him on the back.

  Greene snorted and pulled his hand over his bushy beard.

  Noise from the door drew his attention.

  “I can take care of myself, you know,” Beckett was saying as he came limping back in the room ahead of Holden, Link, and Eagle. Lance was nowhere to be seen, probably picked up by Zane and the MPs.

  “I know.” Holden shrugged.

  “Then why’d you run to my rescue?” The skin around Beckett’s eyes crinkled.

  “Call me crazy?” Holden grumbled.

  “If you think I’m going to be nice to you, think again.”

  “Give it a rest, Beckett,” Link told his cousin. “He’s hurt.”

  “Hurt?” Beckett’s eyes flew wide. “Where?” He limped up to Holden with a scowl and started running his hands over the bigger man’s torso.

  “I thought you weren’t going to be nice to me?” Holden held his hands out at his side.

  “Don’t think this is me being nice!”

  “Lower.”

  “What?” Beckett blinked up at Holden.

  “Go lower.”

  Beckett realized his hands were at the top of Holden’s jeans and he yanked his hands away.

  “You, you, you…”

  Isaac barked out a laugh along with the rest of the room.

  Beckett turned on his cousin. “Why’d you say he was hurt?”

  “To see your reaction,” Link said, all smug.

  “You asshole!” Beckett snapped and sent them all a slicing glare before stalking slowly toward the door.

  “Ice that ankle,” Holden called after Beckett.

  “Bite me!”

  “Fuck,” Holden mumbled. “Now he’ll never forgive me.”

  “Oh,” Isaac assured the guy. “He’ll forgive you.”

  “Yeah?” Holden eyes brightened.

  “Yeah, try a little caveman on him,” he snickered.

  “Hey, that’s my cousin you’re talking about,” Link spoke up.

  “He’s a grown man,” Eagle told Link, who gave Eagle the finger.

  “So, training’s over?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I’ll text you when the assignment comes up,” Spencer said.