Shared by Her Soldiers (3 page)

“Pleased to meet you,” Kaitlyn replied, her voice shaking slightly. She started to raise her hand to shake his, but quickly dropped it. Was she supposed to curtsey, or salute? She had no idea. She had barely gotten her feet wet in the way of Army life when Sean had gotten deployed. She’d been alone ever since—well, unless you counted Jarrod, who was around more for discipline and stern talkings-to than movies and bike rides. Maybe now that her husband was back she could wrap her head around things.

“I believe you’ve met my wife.”

“No, sir,” she began to say. But the words froze on her lips, because the girl who stepped forward was in fact familiar. But surely not… he’d said his
wife
. Her eyes traveled between the two of them. He looked so much
older
than her! Hell, Kaitlyn was sure
she
was older! So what was this teenybopper doing with a two-star general? She opened her mouth to speak, but she seemed to have gone mute. She could feel Sean and Jarrod’s eyes on her, and theirs in addition to the general’s was more than she could bear. She was blushing so hotly that she was sure she would burst into flame any moment right before their pointed stares.

“There seems to be some sort of misunderstanding,” the general continued. “Candice here tells me that you declined her invitation to join the FRG, but I told her that I know your husband here very well. I told her, I said, ‘Candice, that just doesn’t sound like the kind of woman Green would hitch his wagon to.’”

“I… um…” What could she say? What kind of explanation could she offer, other than the truth? How would it sound for her to say, well, general, sir, I didn’t know that you were married to a Skipper doll, so I didn’t think I had to worry about it? No, she doubted that would help at all. She didn’t think he’d appreciate being called old. What was her name? Candice? Candice shouldn’t mind being called young, because everyone there could see that she was.

“Kaitlyn?”

She winced when she heard the stern, disbelieving tone from her husband.

“Is that true?”

“I…”

“Like I said,” the general boomed with a wide smile. “I’m sure this has all just been a misunderstanding. In the excitement and all, it’s easy to understand. Candice will be in touch with you about the next meeting.”

Kaitlyn glanced over at the girl who, if she didn’t imagine it, was giving her a small, satisfied smirk.
Go ahead and laugh!
she thought.
You can have your husband fight your battles for you
. That, she supposed, was probably why she’d married him in the first place.

“The general is waiting on a response, Kate.”

Great, now Jarrod was getting on her, too. Could this
get
any more embarrassing?

“Yes, sir,” she answered, resisting the urge to turn around and glare at the pair of them.

“See you later, gentlemen. Nice to meet you, ma’am.” He offered his arm to his wife, who looped her hands around it. She gave Kaitlyn a jaunty little wave before they departed.

As soon as they had their backs turned, she did roll her eyes. “Can you
believe
her?” she asked, turning to the pair of them. As soon as she saw their expressions—Sean was stony and fierce, Jarrod’s jaw had clenched and he was tapping his foot again—her embarrassment was forgotten in the face of a very real threat: retribution.

“Tell me this isn’t true,” Sean ordered in a low, dangerous growl.

She knew that when he got that tone it meant nothing but trouble for her backside and when her bottom began to tingle in dread-anticipation, she couldn’t help but wince. “I didn’t mean to,” was all she could offer.

“Kaitlyn!” Her name on his lips was half groan, half reprimand. “She’s the general’s wife! My
boss’s
wife! What were you thinking?”

“Technically, the president is your boss, so…” She trailed off when his eyes narrowed. She’d been hoping to get a small smile, or at least to lessen his scowl, but clearly that wasn’t happening.

“This isn’t the time or place to discuss this.” It was Jarrod’s voice this time. Of course, the calm voice of reason, coming to her rescue.

She looked up at him, offering a grateful smile. But the smile died on her lips. She could see in a glance that his intention wasn’t to get her out of trouble at all. In fact, he looked even more pissed than Sean. She hadn’t even thought that was possible.

“Let’s get to the car.” Jarrod gave the order briskly, after which he took her by the elbow and marched her to the parking lot.

So, as it turned out, she
could
be even more humiliated. She tried to pull away, she tried turning to Sean for help, but when she’d tried to look back at him Jarrod had snapped at her to keep her eyes forward. She had never known him to snap before, so she did exactly as he’d ordered.

Once they reached the car, he threw the passenger door open for her and gestured her inside. She mumbled a hasty thank you, to which he didn’t even bother to respond. She was shocked into speechlessness after that. No matter what she did, Jarrod had always remembered his manners.

Not another word was spoken as the two of them got inside and Jarrod began to drive. She kept sneaking peeks at his face, but it was impassive. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for herself. This was supposed to be a happy day! She’d woken up with the biggest case of nerves she’d ever had, stressing over finding just the right outfit, painstakingly doing her makeup, and now none of it mattered.
If I’d known this was how it was going to turn out, I would have shown up in curtains, Gone-with-the-Wind style
, she thought sourly. It just wasn’t fair! She’d been so excited to see Sean, so thrilled to learn that she’d been worrying for nothing! She should be dancing on cloud nine right now, and instead her cloud had morphed into a storm cloud.

The silence in the car was becoming stuffy and oppressive. Despite the fact that he was driving calmly and obeying the traffic laws, Jarrod looked like he had murder on his mind and she was afraid it was hers. Someone had to
do
something.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, breaking the silence. She knew it wouldn’t be nearly good enough, but it was all she had to offer. “I really didn’t mean to do anything wrong,” she tried again when no one answered.

“You never mean to,” Jarrod replied, his normally kind voice short and clipped.

She opened her mouth to reply, but she couldn’t think of a response that worked in her favor, so she gave in to the silence. It was what they rode in until they pulled into the driveway. Then Jarrod signaled her with a curt nod of his head to get out of the car. She opened the door and stepped out, then stood by the car as she awaited further instruction. She hated this. She hated being in limbo and not being sure what was coming next. Although, to be fair, she had some idea…

“I meant to thank you,” Sean said, clearly not talking to her. “You’ve kept her looking real nice,” he commented as he stroked the black Lexus. The luxury car was Sean’s baby, and his only vice.

“It was my pleasure, brother. After all, you’d do the same for me,” Jarrod replied as though everything were perfectly normal, as though she wasn’t standing there shaking in her three-inch heels.

“Is
this
the kind of stuff you’ve had to put up with?” Sean asked incredulously, jerking his head toward her.

Jarrod looked at her at last, his light brown eyes assessing her in a way that made her squirm. “No,” he said at last. “Nothing like this.”

“I just don’t understand why she’d do something so
careless
.”

“I guess all the excitement got to her.”

“That’s no excuse,” her husband scoffed.

“I agree.”

When both of them turned stern, scolding eyes to her, she began to shift from foot to foot, wishing that the ground might heed her silent plea and mercifully open to swallow her whole. She didn’t care if she lived out the rest of her life out in utter blackness, at least her poor butt wouldn’t have to go through a session with Sean’s paddle. At least, she’d assumed it would be Sean—the way Jarrod was glaring at her right now, she could no longer be certain who would be wielding the paddle.

“The worst thing is,” Sean continued without taking his eyes off her. “I doubt she even knows what she’s done.”

But before she could ask what she’d done—the last time she’d checked, all she’d done was told some girl she didn’t even know that she didn’t want to join some Army wives’ club—Jarrod was ordering her inside in a tone that brooked no argument.

She was on pins and needles, which was the only explanation she could offer for what she did next. When she walked up to the door and Jarrod began to open it for her, she swatted his hand away. She knew as soon as she did it, that she’d committed a big no-no, one of the cardinal sins of a submissive. You don’t ever bat away the hand of the man who holds—or would be holding—the paddle.

“I can open my own door,” she offered by way of explanation.

“So you can,” he remarked neutrally.

She should have known it was a trap, because the moment she turned to open the door she felt his large, solid hand land on her bottom in a firm, loud smack. “Ow!” she yelped, whirling around to glare at him accusingly.

“Just because you’re in trouble doesn’t mean you’re allowed to play the brat,” he scolded, his voice soft but firm.

She turned about face and walked past him, holding her head high as though what he’d said hadn’t affected her, but inside she was shaking like a leaf. She’d heard him loud and clear. She’d done this dance with Jarrod more than once—heck, it was more like a dozen times since Sean had been deployed. Or twenty. Hell, she’d lost count. She had good reason to shake—she knew all too well how hard he could spank, how hard he could make her cry.

“You know the drill,” he murmured, right behind her, almost as though he’d read her thoughts. “Get inside, nose in the corner, skirt down.”

She whirled around to tell him that her husband was home, thank you very much, and that he could see himself out, but before she could she saw Sean standing just behind them. He was wearing the same no-nonsense look that was on Jarrod’s face and she had to wonder how he’d respond.

“You heard the man, get moving,” her husband barked at her when he saw her looking at him.

Her feet reacted to the stern order before she even had time to process the
WTF
of it all. Before she knew it, she found herself quivering in the corner with her skirt down around her ankles, wondering how she’d even gotten there in the first place.

She knew the guys had come in behind her and could hear them talking amongst themselves.

“Sorry, man,” Jarrod was saying. “I didn’t mean to overstep. I know you’re back and that she’s your responsibility now. I wasn’t trying to disrespect that.”

She breathed a silent sigh of relief. Thank God. Sure, she would still be getting her butt blistered, by the sound of things, and while that was nothing to dismiss, at least Jarrod would be going home. It had been humiliating beyond words that he’d ever spanked her in the first place, but the idea of him seeing Sean spank her was mortifying enough to make her shudder.

“You didn’t overstep, battle. I thought you were handling things just fine.”

Kaitlyn couldn’t contain a gasp of surprise as she whirled around to face them. “But… but you can’t! He has to go home!”

Jarrod’s eyebrows arched just as Sean’s brow furrowed. Two instantaneous yet very different reactions. She would have found it comical, if she hadn’t been so afraid of what was coming next.

“
Excuse
me?” Sean asked. “Apparently, you need a reminder that you’re not the one in charge here. I think Jarrod’s just the man to teach you that lesson. Besides, I’m a bit out of practice.”

Her eyes widened as her mouth dropped open. He couldn’t be serious. The idea of having Jarrod watch was bad enough, but this was unthinkable. She’d assumed that once Sean got home the days of Jarrod seeing her bare-assed over his knee would be behind them both. She’d been looking forward to it only slightly less than she was looking forward to reuniting with her husband.

“B-but, honey,” she began to plead, wringing her hands. “Please, if you just—”

“I don’t want to hear it. Jarrod’s not going anywhere. Even if he wasn’t going to spank your butt for you, I still need to know what happened today.”

She squirmed under her husband’s scrutinizing gaze, flushing hotter as she felt Jarrod’s eyes on her. But she refused to look at him. She didn’t dare.

“I want to hear everything, Jarrod. And
you
—” Sean pinned her with a firm, commanding stare, “won’t say a word until you’re given leave to.”

Chapter Three

Jarrod couldn’t help but feel sorry for Kaitlyn, despite the fact that it was obvious that Sean didn’t hold an ounce of sympathy for her. He knew that she was only getting the scolding she deserved, and yet, seeing those beautiful green eyes of hers shiny with tears tugged at his heart.

There was no doubt that his friend had found a beautiful wife. Sean was the kind of guy who wouldn’t look complete without a gorgeous creature on his arm, and Kate certainly fit the bill. She was the kind of woman charismatic, witty guys like Sean got, that men like him secretly lusted after. Not that he would ever think of Kate that way. After all, she was his best friend’s wife. He could never betray that bond, nor would he.

But regardless, her beauty was undeniable. The first time Sean had introduced them, he’d thought his eyes might come out of his head. He wouldn’t have missed them—he’d already seen every wonder of the world in the form of her beautiful body and he knew without having to be told that she’d never be his.

The first time she’d looked at him, he’d been dazzled by her beautiful smile, the dimple in her left cheek. Over time he’d come to learn that when she was truly happy her green eyes glittered with flecks of gold. She was 5′5 and slender, though her hips curved just right and her behind was luscious and full. When they’d first met, he’d thought she was a complete sweetheart. Only time would let him see her tendency to brat and let her mouth run away with her.