Team: Echo (12 page)

“
Uh-huh, we’ll get back to that in one minute,” he said
holding up a finger. Looking at Dieter he narrowed his eyes. “What
exactly do you mean to insinuate with that man stuff
crap?”

“
I’m not insinuating anything, I am out and out saying that
you need to man up more. You are much too,” Dieter frowned and
looked to Penny. “I’m stuck on the word I want to use
here.”

“
Girly,” she supplied for Dieter, trying to hide the grin
curling her lips. At James’s horrified look she shrugged. “Honey
you use more hair product then I do. I’ve never seen so many
different shampoos, conditioners and all the other goop that you
use before in my life. I love you James, but yeah.” Her eyes
sparkled in amusement, clearly telling him she was teasing and
couldn’t wait for his ‘retribution’ against her.

Sucking air through his teeth he narrowed his eyes on her and
then shrugged. “Just because I have pride in my appearance is no
reason to take it out on me. And I have to rotate through shampoos
otherwise my hair and scalp dry out and get nasty. The rotation
ensures that the right balance is maintained at all times. Damned
tech didn’t just screw with our brains, Penny, it messed with
everything down to the cellular level.”

“
I’m sorry honey,” Penny let her hands move
up to cup his cheeks and she stroked her thumbs over his lips. “You
can have any product you need babe. I was just saying that you
are
my
pretty boy. No one else’s, mine.”

Grunting he pulled her into his lap and held her tight. “That
is fine, he wasn’t though,” he threw Dieter a dark look. “And no
more helping him with word suggestions like that. Especially when
it’s about me damn it.”

“
Aw, come on. You know that it’s all in fun. You can help him
with word suggestions for me when I piss you off, or upset you, and
I’m damn sure that I will do the two on a regular basis.” Penny
turned her face up to James. “Kiss me James.”

Snorting he dropped a kiss to her lips, quick and boring. “I
wouldn’t encourage him in that way besides when it comes to you I’m
sure he’ll just switch to his native tongue. He does that with me
when he’s really annoyed but I understand most of it. Though, on
rare occasions, he throws in something that I have to go look
up.”

“
It’s okay; he will just have to teach me that language. I
know a little of it and would love to learn more.” With Penny’s ear
for languages she was an easy and fast learn on them and often
sounded just like the locals.

“
Be careful with that, he got me in serious trouble with what
he told me was slang. After about the third slap I was seriously
suspicious,” James said.

Dieter just shrugged and gave a small, evil grin. “Served you
right in my opinion.”

“
Thanks buddy, I’ll remember that the next time you and I are
in the Southern states,” James said, throwing him the
finger.

“
M’eh, Dieter would never steer me in a direction where I
would get slapped, would you big guy?” He cared too much for her to
do that and they all knew that for a fact. “And if he did then I
would just have to get back at him, somehow.”

“
Make him sit and watch girl movies full of emotion and drama,
he practically crawls out of his skin,” James advised. “Ha, take
that you large bastard. And no, I don’t have the same issue; they
do tend to put me to sleep though, kind of like a visual sleeping
pill.”

“
Gotcha. Mind file,” she teased the men. “Enough of this
though. Be nice to each other or I will.” She paused and had to
think for a moment. “Oh, or I will put you out of my bed.” HA! As
if.

“
She thinks that would work?” Dieter asked.

“
Apparently she does big guy. But I have a feeling if she
tossed us out it wouldn’t be long before she came looking for her
men,” James murmured. Pressing a kiss to her neck he nibbled.
“She’d miss us keeping her warm and the slide of our skin to hers,
our hands on her body, our cocks buried in her pussy and
ass.”

“
Damn straight I would.” Penny rubbed against James and
moaned. “I really, really think that I need to be reminded of just
how good that will feel. The feeling of your cock piercings rubbing
in and out of my pussy, your fingers, your mouths on my body
combined all together. Yep, I think I need a reminder.”

Snorting he shook his head. “We’re on a plane in two hours
with an hour and forty minute drive before we get to the field the
Colonel wants us at. Sorry love, we don’t have time for us to do
all we want with you. But since we’re staying in Tartarus tonight
we can find a spot that’s nice and quiet I’m quite sure,” he
smiled.

“
Well could totally get started, right?” she asked with a
smile. “I hate that you guys call it Tartarus. Makes me feel like
we are staying in hell.” At least it wasn’t as bad now since the
assholes learned not to push back at them. Now she was able to
share a room with her men when before the docs and brass were pissy
about it.

“
Seemed fitting,” Dieter told her, turning around and then
moving to grab his bag. “It just sort of fit with our new team
name.” He dropped the bag on the end of the bed and rifled through.
“Besides they were torturing us at the time we came up with it so
really, did you expect anything less?”

“
That’s a very good point,” Penny said, watching her men
moving. “All I care about is them trying to get the freaking
headaches under control. I hate seeing my boys hurting. Not just
you two but the others as well.” James and Dieter were her lovers,
the others were more like brothers and it bothered her that they
hurt as they did.

“
We’ll get it figured out sugar,” James said in a lazy drawl
and smiled. “Don’t go worrying too much about finding replacements.
We’re tougher than that and have survived worse things, no way in
hell are you getting rid of us any time in this life.”

“
That’s a damn good thing because there is no one that can
replace the two of you. No one else could own my heart the way that
you do,” she blurted. “So don’t even think of leaving me. I will
hunt your asses down and shoot you.”

“
Hey,” he hugged her to him. “We’re not going anywhere, love.
You are stuck with us until we’re all old and grey and can’t get
nothing up any more. It will be a sad and horrifying day but we’ll
all be together.”

“
Good. I’m glad. I’m perfectly happy to be with you guys until
we all pass to the great beyond, whatever the hell that might be,”
she muttered. “Just don’t you dare go before me or I will be one
pissed bitch when I come marching into Heaven or Hell to find your
ass.”

“
I do not doubt that in the least,” James grinned at her.
Giving her another squeeze and kiss to her cheek he patted her
bottom. “Come on babe, grab your go-bag and let’s get moving. I
refuse to be last out to the trucks again; I’m still living down
the last time.”

“
What happens when you are the last ones in the trucks?” Penny
asked and shouldered her go-bag. “They don’t tease me.” Then again
she was the only girl, and the only sniper other than Mik and they
likely were afraid she would shoot them from afar.

“
They split jokes about what we were about,” Dieter
said.

“
Crack jokes big guy,” James told him as he grabbed his gear
bag.

“
Whatever it is, they make insinuations of a lewd nature and
it usually ends with us trying to kill the bastard that said it,”
Dieter told her heading for the door.

“
That is the truth,” James grumbled. “Nobody gets to make lewd
anything about our woman and what we get up to but us damn
it.”

“
Well then I think that I need to.” She laughed before she
unbuttoned her shirt and sloppily rebuttoned it, leaving a couple
undone and gaping. Tugging her hair out of its ponytail she put it
back into a sloppy mess of one and wiped her hand over her lips so
that her chapstick smeared over her cheek. “There, now let’s see
what they have to say.”

“
Oh for the love of god,” James groaned, covering his face
with a hand. “Do you need to encourage them, Penny,
really?”

“
She wants them to say something in front of her but I don’t
think she will achieve that,” Dieter shook his head. “They know
better than to make such a comment in front of a woman, any woman.
It would lead to much blood and a terrible beating.”

“
Just want to encourage them,” Penny said with a grin. “What
to just get under their skin. Maybe if Daisy and I flaunt it enough
Vic and Stef will finally go and get their girl and the other boys
will pull their heads out of their asses and see that having a
woman in their life grounds them, leads them to make better choices
and so on.”

“
Shut up Dieter,” James said, punching the larger man on the
shoulder and shook his head. “She’s a woman, she is always right
just go with it,” he advised pushing his friend ahead of them. “You
do realize that with you being the only one looking frazzled
they’re going to question this entire set up right?”

“
Well then take care of that boys. I don’t know what to do to
you to make it look as if we were up here having sex instead of
getting our asses downstairs like we should have been doing. So
come on boys, show me your best after sex looks.”

Dieter snorted and kept going. “Just jump him and plant a
kiss on him. Thrust your fingers through his hair and muss him up,”
he advised over his shoulder as he kept walking.

“
Me?” James squawked and looked at Penny. “Ah hell, come
here,” he said, yanking her close and bent her back to kiss her
hard and fast.

Wrapping her legs around him Penny kissed James with a
ferocity born initially of the joke and then of just plain need. A
low moan escaped her as she rubbed her jean clad pussy against his
quickly hardening cock and shuddered, nipping his lower lip as she
did so.

Pressing her back to the wall he ground his cock to her
pussy. “Fuck,” he groaned and kissed her again. Cupping her ass he
lifted her higher and thrust against her pussy, the material
between them creating some serious friction.

“
Yes,” god she just needed him inside of her, wanted him
inside of her. “Gonna come,” she moaned and let her hands move down
to his nipples and pinched the hard points lightly. “So close.”
Damn she was going to lose it, she was so close and as he ground
against her she let go. Saw stars exploding behind her eyes and
climaxed with his name screaming out of her mouth.

Groaning she was glad he held her up as she shook. “That’s
it, let it all come out,” he murmured. “Fucking beautiful as hell,”
he whispered. Pressing a kiss to her cheek he lowered her until her
feet touched the ground. “We really have to go babe,” he reminded
her before adjusting his cock behind his zipper.

“
Right. Go.” She was shaky on her feet and gladly gave up her
go-bag to Dieter when he lifted it from her. Her hand on James’s
back she walked along with them, amazed that she was actually up
and moving with the pure and intense need that raced through her
body.

Holding her tight James caught a couple of smirks when they
reached the trucks. Opening the door he let her slide in before he
shot warning looks at them all. “One word right now and I will rip
your fucking throats out.” Moving around the truck he slid into the
back seat next to Penelope with care and adjusted himself once more
before settling in a slouched position.

When he climbed in beside her Penny moved so that she was
cuddled close to him and sighed. Head on his shoulder she closed
her eyes and yawned. “Thank you James,” she said and patted his
chest. “Later. Later we will finish, I promise.”

Growling he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her tight
to him. “Damn well better,” he grumbled. “It’s going to be the
longest fucking flight of my life and we’re not even there yet.”
Pressing a kiss to her temple he nuzzled her ear, “Ten more seconds
of that and I’d have had to go back to change my jeans out,” he
whispered.

“
Maybe they will let us have the very back seats and you can
get your pants off, I can get out of mine and I can ride you while
we are in the air? I’ve always wanted to join the mile high club,
think they would mind?” She didn’t care if they did, she was going
to have her man inside of her before the flight was over, dammit.
Hopefully both of them.

“
They don’t get a vote,” he murmured nipping at her throat.
Lifting his head he tucked hers to his shoulder, “Doze babe. We’ve
got a little bit before we get to the airport.” Running his hand up
and down her arm he rested his cheek to her hair and let out a slow
breath.

Penny’s eyes closed and she yawned. “I love you James,” she
whispered and patted his knee. Another intake of a breath then she
breathed out and she was sound asleep.

Chapter Ten

Groaning as he stumbled into the shower stall James slid down
to sit on the floor once the water was running. He was sore and
exhausted from the tests they’d put all of them through and was
hoping that he never, ever had to see another doctor again. Poor
Dieter was already passed out on the bed in the room but he’d
needed to clean up. Though really, it wasn’t going well so far. And
the soap was just so damned far away. Really should have grabbed
that he realized as he stared up at the shelf out of his reach even
if he could lift an arm.