PRIVATE: A Military Romance Novel (Military Men Book 2) (6 page)

“Sit down, Rafter,” Major Atoll said with no hint of friendliness in his voice.

I took the seat next to Kincaid and tried to calm my frayed nerves. I’d never received a reprimand before in my career, and I’d hoped I never would. One stupid fucking mistake and they were going to rake me over the coals for it.

But, at the end of the day, I would have done it again if given the chance. That motherfucking bastard deserved what he got and he might have managed to get away if we hadn’t pursued him.

The only thing I regretted was leading Kincaid astray. I put her life in danger by going down that corridor without backup and she didn’t deserve that. She wasn’t experienced enough to deal with what might have occurred down that corridor. It could have ended much worse than it did.

“I heard a troubling story today,” Atoll started, immediately getting down to business. “A story that said you broke protocol and led your team astray, putting everyone in danger. You know I can’t let this go, not when the safety of my soldiers is paramount. Maybe I made a mistake giving you that promotion.”

I took a deep breath, ready to confess all and accept the consequences. The demotion was going to hurt, especially when I’d have to explain to my mother why I was no longer a corporal. She was going to be very disappointed in me, I could picture her face already.

“Sir, I—“

“It was me,” Kincaid said suddenly, interrupting my speech. I shot her a questioning look but she refused to glance my way. “I saw the target slip into the corridor and I ran after him. Corporal Rafter followed me but I was caught up in the moment so I didn’t hear his warning to stop and wait for backup. It was my fault the incident happened, he did nothing wrong.”

A million things flashed into my mind all at once. I couldn’t let her take the fall for my mistake. She was a rookie and an error of judgment like that could see her sent home and dishonorably discharged from the Army.

It was my problem and I needed to make sure it was me who took responsibility. “Sir, Kincaid—“

“Don’t try to cover for your new recruit,” Atoll said. His brows crinkled together with a mixture of disappointment and anger. “She has to take responsibility for her actions. Every soldier must learn that lesson at some stage, the earlier the better.”

“Sir—”

“I take full responsibility,” Kincaid interrupted again. This time she shot me a look that said she would kill me if I spoke up again. “I will accept whatever punishment you deem fit, sir.”

My teeth clamped together as I fought to remain quiet. Confusion was the main emotion blaring in my head. I didn’t know what Kincaid was up to and I hated the whole situation. She shouldn’t be taking the blame for my mistake. I would never let someone take the rap for me. What was she up to?

“Leave us, corporal. Private Kincaid and I need to have a serious discussion.”

I shot a final pleading look at the confused woman but her gaze held steadfast staring at the major. It was against every instinct I had to walk away and let her take the fall for me.

Major Atoll glared at me as I slowly retreated. Every footstep yelled at me to turn around and confess. I wanted to, badly. But Kincaid appeared determined to lie about the whole thing.

“Close the door behind you,” Atoll called out, another reminder that I was done with the meeting and not invited to partake any further.

I closed the door but I couldn’t return to my bunk and pretend everything was okay. Not when Kincaid was bearing the brunt of the punishment that I should have been receiving.

Atoll’s assistant glared at me as I lingered, silently telling me I wasn’t welcome to loiter when my meeting was over.

I took a walk around base, trying to find anything to take away the storm blazing inside my head. If Kincaid was discharged for my mistake I was going to have to tell the major the truth. He would have to believe me eventually so I could get what I deserved.

It was just such a monumental fuck up. One split-second decision and the career of a soldier was left hanging in the balance.

My feet found their way to the women’s quarters. I stood outside Kincaid’s dorm room, ignoring the curious glances of the female soldiers as they went around undertaking their business.

*

After an hour I was in panic mode. It was too long for Kincaid to still be in the meeting with Atoll. Surely he would have let her return to her bunk to gather her things before they shipped her off? It wasn’t like they would have a plane waiting just to take her home. That wasn’t how things worked in the middle of nowhere.

I was just about to give up when she walked down the corridor in my direction. My nerves stood on end as I waited for the verdict.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” I said. The hundred different conversations I’d had with her in my head while waiting vanished into thin air.

“Shh, not here.”

She pulled me into her dorm room and closed the door. We were alone with only empty bunks to witness our conversation.

“He was going to take away your promotion,” she started, as if everything should have been blatantly obvious. “I couldn’t let him do that. Not when we did the right thing by following that terrorist.”

“It was my mistake. I should have been the one suffering the consequences.” My anger was rising, more for the situation than her actions. “You shouldn’t have said anything.”

“You want to know what my punishment was?” Her arms crossed over her chest. The swell of her boobs was starkly apparent as I tried not to look in that vicinity.

“Yes, I do. Then I will go to Atoll and tell him everything.”

“He gave me an informal warning. It’s not even going to be recorded on my file. I got a slap on the wrist because it was my first mission. You were going to lose your promotion, and I knew Atoll would go easy on me. It wasn’t a difficult decision.”

It took a moment for her words to sink in. She got off with nothing more than a stern talking to? Even so, it felt wrong that she was taking the blame. “You didn’t know that would happen. You could have been thrown out on your ass.”

“It was a calculated risk.” We locked eyes for a few moments as I tried to hold onto the anger. She had a way of disarming me and I didn’t like it. I was her superior, she should have been afraid of me.

“It’s still wrong,” I muttered.

Kincaid took a step closer to me, making my heart kick up a beat and thud faster in my chest. “You’re a good soldier, you deserve to be a corporal. Demoting you now would have caused the whole team to lose out. Please just accept this and we never have to speak about it again. I can live with that, can you?”

I didn’t like it.

It wasn’t right.

A lifetime of taking responsibility and doing the right thing made every inch of this stink. But, I had to admit, Kincaid was right. I would have lost my promotion and she got off as lightly as possible. We could go on without anything changing.

I’d learned my lesson and I wouldn’t put Kincaid in the same position again. I vowed to myself that it wouldn’t happen again.

Maybe we could get past this.

As long as Kincaid kept my secret.

My head started nodding while my brain made the final decision. “Okay, I can deal with that.”

“Good. Now say thank you and leave. I need a shower and an early night’s sleep.”

“Thank you,” I replied, the words weighing heavily on me. I still didn’t feel good about it, but her reasoning couldn’t be argued with.

She nodded toward the door and I took the hint to make my hasty exit. I walked slowly, not sure I could settle down for the night yet. The turmoil inside me was still stirring up a whirlpool.

I only got around the corner at the end of the corridor when I heard a female shriek. It was all I needed to start running in the opposite direction. A few of the female soldiers were emerging from their dorms, as confused and worried as I was.

The shriek continued while I headed directly for it. Her cries were emanating from the female bathroom, a fact I realized too late as I charged inside.

Kincaid was dripping wet, standing in the shower with the water running between us. She was pointing toward a massive spider watching her from the corner of the stall. “Get it out! Get it out!”

For a moment I couldn’t move. The sight of Kincaid completely naked scrambled all my thoughts. She attempted to cover up her most intimate areas, but there was no way to cover up that banging body.

“The spider! Get it!” she screamed. The assault to my eardrums jerked me back to reality. I grabbed her towel and threw it over the spider, bundling it up gently without crushing the poor creature.

By the time I left the bathroom I had a guard of honor made up of the women from the dorm. Some of them took a step back when I got too close, fearful of the little insect.

I took the spider outside and let him go, he was probably more traumatized than Kincaid. I still had her towel so I needed to return back to the bathroom. The women had all disbursed by then, now the threat had passed.

Kincaid was still in the shower block but the shower had switched off already – it only ran for a short time to save on water. Her wet body shimmered in the dim light.

I knew that it was a jerk move to be back in there, and even worse to look. But at the same time it was impossible to avert my eyes. Staring at her was like looking at the sun and I was going to go blind if I kept doing it.

“Your towel,” I stammered out. “I thought you’d need it. The spider is gone.”

She snatched the towel and wrapped it around herself. Covering up her body was a sin, it needed to be on display. The image was burned into my retinas now, I saw it every time I blinked.

I’d already seen a hint of Kincaid’s body underneath her uniform and training gear but I never imagined it would be
that
amazing. She was all dangerous curves in all the right places and skin so taut you could bounce a dime off it.

My cock reacted before I could stop it. The member between my legs sprung to life, hardening until it was uncomfortable.

And embarrassing.

“I should go,” I said, taking a step back. Kincaid raised her eyebrows, as if it she had been waiting for me to say that for the duration of the seconds that I hesitated.

I stepped out of the bathroom, trying to walk normally when I had a piece of wood in my pants. I was certain every woman that I passed could tell how aroused I was.

Any man in his right mind would have been in the same position. You couldn’t look at a body like that without your natural instincts taking over.

Only one other thing was starkly apparent, I had misjudged Kincaid. Perhaps she did have what it took to be a soldier out on the frontline. But that still didn’t make it right.

I went to bed and tried to push her from my thoughts but the hard cock between my legs was making me uncomfortable and I needed to get rid of it. Jerking off was out of the question, I just needed to drift off to sleep.

The next thing I knew, my clock was flashing two a.m. and I was still as horny as hell. I climbed out of bed and started walking. It wasn’t until I reached the female shower block that I realized where I was going.

A shower was on, the spray sharp on the tiled floor. Steam swirled in the air, beckoning me further until it enveloped me.

The female form emerged from the mist, her dark hair sticking to her back as the water flowing through it. She turned just as the water automatically switched off.

Kincaid.

A primal wanting rushed through me as I openly stared at her naked body. She was gorgeous. Her perky boobs were more than a handful, her nipples so erect they could cut glass.

Water was still beading on her skin, running down her stomach and tangling with her pussy. It was like living every wet dream I’d had as a teenager. Her body was exquisite, toned to perfection by all our training.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. Her tone wasn’t angry, it was breathy, almost like a part of her had been waiting for me. She was the flame and I was the hapless moth.

“I can’t stop thinking about you,” I said, taking a step closer and noticing how she didn’t take one backwards. She wasn’t even reaching for her towel or covering her body.

Maybe Kincaid wanted this as much as I did. It emboldened me enough to take another step. When she didn’t move again, the game was on. I quickly closed the gap between us and wrapped her in my arms.

My hand rested in the crook of her back, pulling her naked body against me. Our lips lingered dangerously close together, so close I could feel her breath as she tried to control it.

In the next moment, we were kissing. Her mouth opened, inviting my tongue inside to lap at hers. She tasted like cherries, every part of me responding to her with each of my senses.

“I’ve wanted to fuck you for the longest time,” I confessed. A smile lilted her lips, inviting me further to use her body the way I needed.

It was two a.m. and anybody could walk in on us in the shower block but I couldn’t find the energy to care. I wanted her and no amount of logic or reason was going to stop me now.

I walked Kincaid backwards until her back was pressed against the cool tiles. It was only in the middle of the night that the temperature actually went down in this God-forsaken place. We were going to make some heat to compensate.

My arms reluctantly left her supple skin, only long enough to tear my clothes from me. My standard-issue pajamas fell onto the wet floor but I didn’t care. The only thing on my mind was fucking Kincaid until she moaned with pleasure and begged for more.

This time, when my body pressed against hers, I could feel every inch of her skin on mine. There was something incredibly sexy about the feeling of skin-on-skin, like it was only something allowed in private and with the person you most trust.

“Fuck me, corporal,” Kincaid whispered. Her voice was little more than a soft whimper but it was enough to make my cock even harder.

She had me so hard that my manhood was going to explode if I didn’t put it in her right at that moment. I lifted her leg before she wrapped it around mine. My hand went straight to her cunt, feeling her wetness immediately.