STORY EXCERPT

“Dale, Dale, let go of her,” one said and he didn’t let go. It was Dale.

“Dale?” she whispered and the flashbacks of his body, the injury, the blood, how he stopped breathing all came crashing back, but then she saw the far off look in his eyes and she reacted. She was able to control the episode and she reached up and cupped his cheek. His eyes went right to her.

“Easy, Dale. It’s all good. My God, it’s so good to see you.” He blinked several times and she saw the emotion.

“Doc?” he said and she shook her head.

“Nurse. First Lieutenant, retired,” she said. She couldn’t believe how much her body shook, how in tune she was to this man, this soldier.

He licked his lower lip and she wasn’t sure if he felt what she did, or what was happening and as she pulled her hand away he shook his head.

“Holy shit,” he said and hugged her. He squeezed her so tight. She tried not to panic, not knowing what he was like or capable of or if he was mentally stable and then felt screwed up for thinking that. Her mind went into a thousand directions but then he was pulling back, inhaling her shampoo. He reached up and went to lower like he wanted to inhale but then didn’t. She looked away from him, and toward the other two men, she had to.

“What the hell is going on?” the one mean looking guy asked, eyeing her over and she was on guard. The second guy was close to Dale and he looked pissed off.

“Cass.” She heard her name and there were Dr. Ted Fiore and his brother Tom.

“We were looking for you, wanted to buy you a drink, talk and catch up,” Ted said and she went to look at Dale and the two men but Dale was talking to them and the crowd was pushing along and Ted took her arm and turned her toward the bar. She thought she felt relief, not really knowing how to handle the encounter with Dale or how he was mentally, or how she was mentally. She thought about him so much over the last two years and couldn’t really figure out why. She overanalyzed her thoughts and blamed it on the trauma of the situation in Iraq and what they all faced.

“You look beautiful as always, Cass. How is work?” Ted asked her and she felt Tom’s hand on her lower back as both men squeezed close. Before she could answer the crowd began to sing “Happy Birthday” to Catiana, as a huge cake was brought out and everyone joined in the singing. She looked for Dale, and when she spotted him with the two men, both with a hand on either shoulder, she was concerned and then she saw Cobra and Constantine. The one big guy said something to Constantine as the birthday song continued and everyone cheered. Constantine and Cobra looked at her and then the men were walking Dale away from the crowd.

“Cass, you okay?” Ted asked.

“Oh, uhm, yes, sorry, would you excuse me?” she asked.

“Sure, what’s wrong?” Tom asked.

“I just need to do something,” she said and then quickly went the other way. She was shaking, didn’t know what to do, and her worry for Dale was overwhelming. She didn’t even think about what she could even do or say or if seeing her angered him. Maybe made him think about the past, about dying, she wasn’t sure. She got around the side of the bar and just barely caught sight of the five men heading to the outside. She reacted, went that way, noticing that just about everyone else was inside, celebrating Catiana’s birthday. She pushed the door open and saw them gathered around. She heard Dale’s voice.

“I’m fine. I’m fucking fine, just let me be,” he said and she could hear his muffled voice and it sounded like he was struggling. She walked closer, her heels clicked and clacked on the concrete and the men turned to look, all angry, a force of protection around Dale but she focused on him. He was sitting on the paver stone wall, head down and trying to calm his breathing.

“Stay right there,” the one big guy demanded. Dale glanced up, his eyes red, emotional.

“Fuck. Don’t look. Don’t see me like this,” Dale said and she walked closer. Cobra stepped in the way.

“I don’t know who you are or how you know our brother, but stay back,” he warned.

Cobra was Dale’s brother? Were they all related to Dale?

“It’s okay,” she said and walked closer. She stood in front of Dale.

“I just need to be alone. Don’t look at me like this.”

“After what we went through, this is nothing. You fought through, soldier. You got through it all,” she said, not even knowing why or where the words came from. As he lifted his head up, squinting at her, she wondered why she was here. What did she think she could do to help him when obviously seeing her triggered an episode. She knew it. She had them too, but she fought the one back there at the bar. It was minimal compared to what Dale had obviously gone through and encountered. She gasped when Dale grabbed her around the waist and hugged her to him. His face against her belly, his huge arms wrapped around her and she held on to him too. Caressed his shoulder and back, ran her palm along his hair.

“Easy, Dale. It’s okay. I felt it too. Back there at the bar. It all came back.”

“What the fuck is going on?” the one big guy asked.

“Your scent, the shampoo or body wash, it’s what I remember, what I held on to, and the feel of your touch.”

She was shaking and with his arms around her, his head to her belly, she felt so much. Too much for this to be normal, to be something more than their connection during a life or death moment. She eased back.

“I asked about you. No one could tell me anything. They said Dr. Andrews saved my life, but then I got in touch with him. He said Cass saved me,” he told her and she was shocked.

“You contacted Major Andrews?” He was caressing her back, still holding her close. She kept a hand on his shoulder.

“Can someone explain to the rest of us what the fuck is going on here?” another man asked. She stared into Dale’s blue eyes.

“Cass saved my life in Iraq. She’s the reason I’m alive. She’s my angel,” Dale told them.

ADULT EXCERPT

Dale lifted her up into his arms and carried her upstairs to the bedroom so they could spread her out and enjoy every inch of her. His heart was pounding inside of his chest, especially as she ran her palm into the opening of his button down shirt and caressed his skin. He lowered her feet to the floor, towering over her and wanting more and everything, and so much he felt unsure where to start.

“Do we need condoms?” Granger asked, thank God, not that Dale would care. He wanted Cass, and he felt like he waited forever for her. Like their pasts colliding and bringing them together now was fate, his reward for all the sacrifices. God gave him, them, his angel.

“It’s been a long time for me. If you guys have been active, maybe we should use protection. I’m on the pill, but you know—”

Dale cupped her cheeks.

“We haven’t been sexually active. We’re safe, Cass,” he said to her and then kissed her softly on the lips. Her scent filled his nostrils and he anticipated being inside of her, claiming her, having her that close and part of him physically. He pulled back as she undid his shirt, and he pulled off his pants while his brothers undressed. When his shirt was undone she caressed along the scar, lowered her mouth to kiss it. He closed his eyes.

“My angel is real, and right here ready to make love to me and my brothers. I’m the happiest man alive,” he said to her.

He cupped her cheeks.

“I hope that doesn’t scare you. Knowing that I thought about you, felt this connection even though I was out of it more than anything.”

“I get it, Dale. I felt it too, even as I looked into your blue eyes and could see the fear, the fight in you. I felt an attraction to Cobra and Constantine when I met them separately. My eyes were drawn to Rudy and Granger tonight at Calbetta’s. I understand the fears, the battles, and surviving,” she said to him. She looked around at the five men, all naked now, gathered around her.

“We’re pretty scarred up, and you’re perfect,” Granger said and kissed her shoulder. She closed her eyes and her dress began to fall.

“I’m not so perfect, and I know all about scars and battle wounds,” she said as her dress fell. Her abundant breasts came into view, her taunt belly, and before he could look at her wet pussy, he saw the scar.

“Cass, how,” he asked and lowered down, drawing the attention of his brothers to her obvious gunshot wound. He kissed along the scar and she ran her palms through his hair.

“It’s okay.”

“How?” Granger asked her, kissing along her neck.

“Not now, just keep doing what you’re doing. I love the way your hands all feel on me, your mouths, your desire for me,” she admitted.

Dale lifted her up by her waist with one arm and placed her onto the edge of the bed. He spread her thighs, ran his palms along the toned muscles and looked at her sexy, clean shaven pussy. The cream dripped right down over her asshole and he knew he wanted to take her together with his brothers. To fill her up in every hole and never let her go. It was wild how desperate, how needy and possessive he felt.

“Every inch of you will be ours, Cass. Every fucking inch,” he said and slid his tongue along her pussy and plunged right in. He held her one thigh over his forearm and maneuvered his finger to her asshole. His brother Cobra climbed up onto the bed and kissed her mouth as Rudy suckled on her breasts, raised her arms above her head and had her moaning and gasping.