What Remains_Reckoning (8 page)

Ham had finally gotten her to return to the couch, draping part of her upper body across his thighs as he gently stroked her hair, soothing the violent twitching of her muscles. She’d drifted off again, but the dreams had returned, and he’d spent the last thirty minutes trying just to keep her from waking up screaming again.

The door to the cabin opened as Wolfe entered, glancing at Morgan before scraping out the seat next to Gunner and falling into it. The frame creaked in seeming protest as Wolfe leaned the chair onto the back two legs as he stretched his feet out on the edge of the table, crossing them at the ankles.

The man let the rifle slip off his shoulder, setting it beside his chair. “Perimeter’s secure—what I could see of it with the limited beam from the flashlight and the intermittent moonlight. Morgan was right. The fences seem to keep the infected out, though I only saw two this past hour. Maybe the elevation deters them. Hell if I know. It seems all the old theories are gone to shit now, with them running and climbing.”

“Think they’ll get over the fence?”

Wolfe shrugged. “Maybe. It’s decently high, with some prongs at the top to keep animals from achieving that very purpose. And the motherfuckers seem to have a harder time with the thinner wire. But we’ll have to take turns keeping watch just to be safe. I’m hoping Beau won’t risk a night trip to search for us if that’s his intent. Even with the moonlight it’s darker than ass up here. But the guy’s obviously crazy, so… I also rigged the gate so it’ll clatter a bunch of pots if anyone tries to open it. Give us a bit of a warning. Wasn’t really any way to lock it or wedge it shut. Seems forest rangers are pretty trusting folk. The barrier is really just designed to protect wildlife, not be a fortress.” He glanced at Hamilton, giving Gunner a raise of his brow. “How long has he been sitting there holding her?”

“Half an hour.”

“She still stuck in some kind of dream?”

Gunner sighed. “Hard to tell. We can’t make out what she’s trying to say. Ham seems to have gotten her to calm down for now, though it’s anybody’s guess how long it’ll last.” He scrubbed a hand down his face. “God, I hope that bastard Beau didn’t hurt her so bad she’ll never get free.”

Wolfe lifted the corner of his mouth into a smile. “She seems pretty damn tough. I think she’ll be okay. Besides, everyone’s vulnerable in their sleep. I seem to recall taking a few months to make it through the night after our last tour in Afghanistan.”

“You and me both, dude.” Gunner nodded at Ham. “Never seen Ham this taken with a girl. Not even before we started fighting dead people. Not quite sure what to make of it.”

“We’ve been denying that part of ourselves for a long time. Can’t blame the man for wanting more than…” Wolfe waved his hand at the cabin. “This. Even soldiers get tired of the fighting, Gunner. It was only a matter of time before one of us saw the light.” Wolfe’s gaze darted back to the girl. “Besides, Morgan isn’t your typical lady.”

Gunner groaned, allowing his head to tilt back. “Holy shit. You’re just as taken with her as Ham is, aren’t you?” He scoffed at the look Wolfe gave him. “Don’t even waste my time by denying it. It’s written all over your face. You’re attracted to her.”

“What’s not to be attracted to? The woman is gorgeous, and she fights like a damn badger.” He cracked a smile. “Pretty damn intelligent and resourceful, too. She’d make one hell of a partner for us.”

“Us?”

It was Wolfe’s turn to groan. “Talk about lying your face off. You’re not as removed as you pretend to be,
buddy
. I’ve seen the way you look at her. The way she makes you want to pull your hair out at the same time you want to kiss her senseless. The girl gets under your skin before you even realize there was a way in.”

“Fine. I find her…intriguing. That doesn’t mean I’m lining up to be one of those damn family units back at the base. And that’s assuming all three of us could turn off the alpha instincts long enough not to kill each other just to gain her affections.” He shook his head, allowing his focus to swing to the girl in question. “Nope. SEALs aren’t the sharing type, plain and simple.”

Wolfe chuckled. “How long you been practicing that speech?”

Gunner glanced at him. “Fuck off.”

“You first.”

“Shit! You’re a son of a bitch, you know that?”

Wolfe didn’t even flinch.

Gunner huffed. “Ever since she risked her better judgment and gave Ham the keys. But not everything I said is bullshit. We aren’t the type to share, Wolfe.” He kicked at the floor, feeling the truth of the statement clear through to his toes. Men like them didn’t share. They owned. Devoured. Claimed. They didn’t get off by watching another man with
their
woman.

He glanced at Wolfe. “We’re possessive bastards. Not like Beau, but possessive just the same.”

“True. But it’s not that black and white, and you know it. This isn’t sharing in the sense we’re going to give the girl to any jerk that happens along. We’re talking about committing ourselves to the same woman.” He let the chair tip forward as he leaned on the table. “Are you seriously telling me you wouldn’t do anything to save Ham’s or my life?”

Gunner punched the guy in the shoulder. “What the fuck kind of question is that? You know damn well I would. Anything. No hesitation. No regrets. Blood aside, we’ve been brothers for over a decade. I’d sacrifice anything for you two.”

“Do you believe me when I say Ham and I feel the same way about you?”

“Of course but…” He hit the man again. “Just say what the hell you’re trying to say.”

Wolfe shrugged again. “Just that if you’re willing to die for us, what makes you think you wouldn’t sacrifice a bit of that alpha pride in order to ensure the woman we all cared about was safe? Loved? Protected? Even if you weren’t able to do the job.” He leaned back again. “Sounds like a bit of a paradox to me.”

Gunner frowned. He’d never thought about it like that. Never stopped to wonder how Colby, Darcy and Barrett managed to love Abby without it breaking into a fistfight, or worse. And those men were about as possessive as they got. Ex-military, they’d never seemed like the type to share, either. Yet Gunner had never seen the three men happier since they’d brought Abby home and become something far more than just a group.

He sighed, easing back in the chair. “This is all a moot point anyway. Morgan jumps out of her skin if any of us so much as graze her. I can’t see her welcoming one of us into her heart, let alone all three. She’s been through too much.” He nodded toward the couch. “Hell, she can’t even rest without being terrorized by what’s floating around inside her head.”

Wolfe glanced over his shoulder at her. “Call me crazy, but she seems better with Ham holding her.”

Gunner looked at the couple. Hamilton had his head tilted back, resting against the frame, one hand still slowly stroking Morgan’s shoulder as the other held her fingers tight in his. He’d closed his eyes, seemingly content to just sit with the woman, her body molding nicely to his.

Wolfe smiled at him.

He shook his head. “She’s probably just so damn exhausted she doesn’t have any fight left.”

“Or she’s been waiting for the right men to actually rescue her, instead of letting her down. And if three SEALs can’t rise to the occasion, not sure anyone can.”

“Sounds like you’ve been doing a lot of thinking on the subject while you were securing the perimeter.”

“It’s not like I planned to get blindsided by feelings I thought were long since buried. Hell, since we started fighting this war, I’d accepted the fact that part of my life was over. Even the women at the compound didn’t make me want to take the risk. But Morgan…” Wolfe brushed one hand across his scalp. “Shit, Gunner. I don’t know what it is about the girl. I just know she got my attention and won’t let go. So yeah, I’ve been thinking about it.”

“You talk to Ham?”

“When? He’s been trying to keep Morgan from knocking him senseless. But I’ve seen that look in his eyes before. He’s downright fallen for the girl.”

“That I know. What I’m not sure about is if he agrees with your sentiments on the sharing arrangement.”

“You guys know I can hear you, right? You’re like ten feet away from me.”

Gunner turned to find Hamilton staring at them, his head still relaxed back against the couch. Morgan hadn’t moved, her ribcage rising and falling rhythmically as she snuffled in her sleep. She looked peaceful, and the sight sent a jolt of longing straight to Gunner’s chest. It constricted around a large ball of emotion, making it suddenly hard to breathe. Fuck, he was just as screwed as Ham and Wolfe. And all because of the minx sleeping on the couch.

Hamilton eyed him for a few moments before chuckling. “I see Morgan’s had an effect on you, as well. Though I’m sure you’ll deny it.”

Gunner shook his head. “If you’ve been listening, you already heard me admit I find her intriguing.”

“Intriguing? You look as if you don’t know whether to strangle her or make love to her against the damn wall. I’d say that’s more than just intrigue on your part.”

“When the hell did you two suddenly start reading my mind? ‘Cause I’d sure as shit like to know how you seem to come to the same conclusion when I haven’t even gotten there.”

Ham laughed again. “That’s easy. We’ve spent the last decade traipsing around every shithole known to man with you. Watched your back. Damn near crawled inside that soul of yours. Pretty much the same way you have with us. We can read you like a damn book, bro.”

He released a weary breath. “Fine. Apparently I’m not immune to our guest’s charms. But like I told Wolfe, that doesn’t mean a damn thing if she’s afraid to even touch us in passing. And no one said she’d share any of our views. That’s if we even think we could really pull it off.”

Hamilton’s eyes narrowed. “After all the shit we’ve been through—the number of times we’ve traveled to hell and back—you really don’t think we’re strong enough to have each other’s back on this?”

“This isn’t a mission, Ham.”

“No. You’re right. It’s something far more important. Far more dangerous. This isn’t simply dying. It’s losing what’s still human inside us. The reason we fight. And I know, for a fact, that scares you more than anything else.”

Gunner clenched his jaw then pushed to his feet. He needed some air before Ham and Wolfe saw through to the man beneath the stony facade. Before he admitted there could be so much more than blood and death in their lives.

Hamilton sighed as he walked past. “You can only fight it so long, Gunner, before it’ll eat you alive inside.”

He gazed back at the man across his shoulder as he opened the door. “You really think you can stand there and watch Wolfe or me make love to her and not want to tear our throats out?”

“I know I could. Because in the end, her happiness, her survival, means more than my damn pride. There are only two men I’d trust her life to. And one of them is walking out the door.”

Gunner hung his head, fisting the frame as he stared out at the moon as it peeked through the clouds high above the mountaintop. How did both men know exactly what to say to make him see the bigger picture? To understand what was really important?

He took a deep breath and closed the door, turning to lean against it. He didn’t know if it was what Hamilton had said, or the burning sensation he got in his gut whenever he thought about walking away from them—from the promise of something better—but he knew he couldn’t live with himself if he bailed before he’d even tried. The guys were right about one thing. They’d had each other’s back so long he couldn’t remember what it was like to live without them. To wake up without hearing one of them cursing in the next room or have one of them toss something at his head when he raised it. They’d saved his ass more times than he could count, and he knew that if he could make ‘sharing’ work with anyone, it’d be the men he’d come to see as so much more than friends.

Ham gave him a goofy smile. “Don’t feel so bad. We’ll pretend like it was your idea all along.”

“You say that every time you talk me into something.”

Hamilton shrugged. “What can I say? When you find something that works for you…”

Gunner flipped him off. “You both know this is crazy, right? As in over-the-fucking-edge, what–the-hell-are-we-smoking crazy? Morgan’s never going to go for it. You saw her. She’s terrified of us. And correct me if I’m wrong, but we promised the girl we wouldn’t try to seduce her.”

“We promised her we wouldn’t hurt her.” Wolfe grinned. “That’s not the same thing.”

Hamilton held up one hand, stopping both men. “Let’s just see how the next few days play out. Give her a chance to get to know us… See we’re not like the other survivors she’s met. And when the time is right, we’ll let her decide if three men are too many. Hell, if one is.”

Gunner nodded. “Fine. But don’t get all pissy when this blows up in our face. Which reminds me.” He walked back to Wolfe, took out his wallet and slapped ten bucks on the table. “A bet’s a bet.”

Wolfe held up the bill. “I believe the wager was twenty.”

“You were only half right. They never tried to cook one of us. That means you only win half the bet.”

“Now you’re just being mean.”

Gunner smiled, feeling as if a weight had lifted off his shoulders. “Jackass.”

“Ah, I love you too,
buddy
.”

Gunner returned to his seat. “And to think I chose you guys to be in my unit all those years ago. I must have been insane.”

“Certifiable.” Wolfe grabbed his rifle and stood. “I’ll take first watch. See what their numbers are like. I suggest you two get some actual sleep. Morgan appears to have calmed down, but that could change. And we don’t need to be barking at her because we’re too damn tired to be patient.” He moved over to her, drawing his fingers through the ends of her hair. “She’s been hurt enough.”

“Damn straight she has.” Hamilton’s eyes darkened with rage. “And no one’s going to so much as look at her wrong again. Not while she’s in our care, which will be for a long time if we’re lucky.”

“Lucky. Now that would be a nice change.” Wolfe brushed his thumb along her cheek before glancing at them again. “Sleep. I’ll be close.”