What I Fight For: A Bad Boy Military Romance (Easy Team Book 1) (14 page)

              Another beat of silence fell between us.

              “You’re brave,” I said after awhile. “And you’re good. And I knew it from the moment I saw you.”

              A faint smile played at the corner of Cooper’s lips. “Funny,” he said. “That was what was I was just thinking about you. Not too many ladies I know who’d throw themselves into a bar brawl to tend to wounds.”

              I couldn’t help but smile at his words. But there was a warmth that lingered on in my chest and I saw it reflected in his eyes.

              He turned towards me slightly, touching my chin and lifting my face up towards his.

              “I…” he started hesitantly. “I hope you know that from the start, I’ve been trying to keep you out of the darkness. Out of the blood and dirt that I live in. You deserve much better than that. You deserve better than me.”

              I opened my mouth to argue but he pressed his thumb lightly against my lips, stopping me. He smiled faintly at me, his eyes roving over my face with an ignited passion that made my chest pound.

              “But in some ways,” he continued, “I’m realizing that’s a disservice to you. You’re tougher, stronger, and braver than most men and know how to stand on your own two feet.”

              I looked up at him, my heart not daring to believe what he was saying. Hadn’t I truly fallen in love with him from the moment I had seen him at the bar in L.A.?

              He had held me with such strength then. He had comforted me with such sincerity. And he had protected me with such confidence. It was as if he had seen straight into my soul and had seen who I was and had accepted it and loved it immediately.

              I didn’t have to put on airs or try to play up my strengths in front of him. He had no problem teasing me or putting me in my place just as he had no problem comforting me and keeping me safe.

              He loved me so completely. It had taken him no second thoughts to literally use his body to protect me. Whether it was mind, body, or soul, he was ready to sacrifice it all for me.

              Cooper’s hand cupped my cheek and I leaned into his touch, the warmth of his hand seeming to spread into my entire body. I turned my head and lightly kissed his palm.

              His hand slid towards the nape of my neck. He gripped my neck securely and pressed his forehead against mine, his lips mere breaths away.

              “It’s just that you’re so small,” he breathed with a rueful laugh. But I could feel his hand squeezing my neck, feeling my bones, which were admittedly smaller than his.

              I put a hand on his chest, feeling my own rapid pulse echoed in his body.

              “But I’m strong,” I whispered, lifting my head up so that our lips were just a hair’s breadth away from each other. “And even stronger when I’m with you.”

              I could feel the decision being made in Cooper’s body as he absorbed my words, understanding what I meant.

              I would walk with him. I would fight with him. And at night, I would lay with him.

             
I could do all those things, so long as I was with you.

              And somehow, I could hear those same words being spoken in his head as well.

              I felt the moment of decision stiffen his body when he put a hand on the nape of my neck, pulling me, pressing me against him. His lips descended on mine, crushing me with their ferocity and I welcomed it.

              As soon as our lips touched, it was as if a light had touched a match. Sparks exploded and fire bloomed. We were already half dressed and the heat of our bodies crackled against each other.

              He wrapped a strong arm around my waist, pulling me nearly onto his lap. He made quick work of my bra and freed my breasts, cupping them and squeezing them with a hunger that made my toes curl.

              As he kissed me, his rough thumb and finger rolled a nipple, making me moan as the twin fires of pain and pleasure burned through me.

              “Oh god,” I gasped, his tongue plunging into my mouth, literally taking my breath away.

              “You taste so sweet,” he breathed against my lips. “You have no idea how goddamn sweet you are.”

              And then with the strength and reflexes of a panther, he flipped me onto my back, pinning me down with his body. We had just enough room to stretch out.

              Leaning on one arm, he undid the buttons of my blouse and threw the shirt open, using it almost as a blanket to protect my back from the coarse dust and rubble beneath me. Even in moments of passion, he took precautions to keep me safe.

              Cooper lowered his head to my chest, breathing in my scent as if it were ambrosia. I gasped and arched my back as I felt his lips close in around my nipple, sucking hard.

              “Oh my god!” I whispered. “Oh my god!”

              It literally felt as if he was sucking on my clit. I could feel his tongue pulling me all the way through my body to down between my legs. I bent my knees, wrapping my legs around his hips. I felt his hard cock press against me.

              When Cooper raised his head, I lifted up a little to take his lips. “I want to feel you,” I breathed. “I want to feel you inside me.”

              I didn’t think it was possible to see his eyes grow any darker with desire but they did. They became nearly charcoal black and just like charcoal, they were full of fire, just ready to be lit.

              Together, we made short work of our pants. I gasped involuntarily at seeing his cock freed.

              Long, thick, and as hard as a steel rod, it was an impressive testament to his arousal.

              Cooper leaned over me again, pushing me down against the ground. His hand plunged between my legs and I felt his fingers roughly stroke my wet folds. I gasped at his touch, feeling like my body was dissolving in a pool of lava.

              Cooper looked down at me, his eyes dark and indescribable. He looked at me with an aching desire, a rough passion, and a sweet tenderness that made me want to curl into his body, never to leave his side again.

              Taking my lips, he plunged into me with one swift thrust.

              My whole body reacted. Every muscle tightened and my back arched sharply as my pussy was stretched to accommodate his size. I threw an arm around his neck, holding onto him as an anchor as I was tossed around in the sea of desire.

              But Cooper was just as overwhelmed by our joining. His whole body tensed as he plunged into me. With his forehead resting on mine, he muttered, “Christ!”

              I kissed him, taking his lips, wanting more of him.

              “God, Em,” he whispered, his breath hot against my cheeks. “You feel so good.” He pulled out and plunged back in, making me cry out as I felt every inch of his length slide into me. “You feel so damn good.”

              I held him tightly. Suddenly I felt tears prickling my eyes. I touched my hand to his cheek, his rough stubble scratching my palm.

              I was happy.

              I was trapped inside a collapsed building after an earthquake in the middle of a foreign country ravaged by a refugee crisis. I could literally feel the broken rocks and dirt rubbing the backs of my legs and arm raw.

              The ground had literally shaken and the walls had literally tumbled down.

              And yet, I was happy.

              I was happy because I was with Cooper.

              Cooper plunged deep into me again, making me groan with the waves of pleasure that consumed me.

              He looked down at me with such heated love that I almost couldn’t keep eye contact. He brushed away a stray tear with a thumb. He didn’t seem alarmed by my tears. In fact, he seemed to understand them.

              He took my lips as he cradled my head, thrusting his cock deep into me, stretching me, filling me. And I opened myself to him, longing to have him inside me.

              Holding my head, he looked down at me. I could feel his cock still deep within me.

              “I’ll keep you safe, Em,” he said, making my tears prickle against my lashes again. “I’ll protect you. And as best I can, I won’t ever hurt you.”

              Weren’t those words the words every girl ached to hear from her man? I hadn’t realized how much I had wanted to hear those words until Cooper had spoken them.

              Yes, you can say you love someone but to vocalize just what actions you would take to show that affection and love….That was something entirely more.

              He would protect me, keep me safe.

              He wouldn’t hurt me.

              How many times had Edward said he loved me? Whether casually, absentmindedly, or even sincerely? And yet, how many times had he kept me safe? Protected me?

              From the moment I had met Cooper, he had been at my side like a dark protective angel. He had rescued me from Reggie’s. He had rescued me from a broken heart. He had rescued me from gunmen. And had he rescued me in an earthquake.

              He had kept me safe by literally throwing his body over mine without a moment’s hesitation.

              And he had tried to protect my heart by keeping me at arm’s length, away from the brutality of his job and life. But I wanted to be with him, all of him. And it was clear he knew now that I was ready to accept the reality of his life and life by his side.

              I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him even deeper into me. Cooper groaned as his cock slid in further.

              With my legs around his hips, I let myself melt against his body, swept up by his rhythm. His thrusts came at me harder and faster. We both panted as we felt our release just around the corner.

              Pinned beneath him, his arms cradling the sides of my head, his cock deep within me, I’d never felt safer. I hadn’t forgotten where I was. I knew how ridiculous it seemed—to feel safe when trapped and buried under rubble.

              But it was true.

              Trapped in our dark den, it felt as if we were at the end of the world, in some lost and forgotten corner. But instead of being terrified, I felt safe and warm and oh so happy.

              With him, with Cooper, I would always be safe.

              His thrusts grew rougher. A bloom of heat swelled within me. I dug my nails into his back, feeling myself pushed closer and closer to the edge.

              Cooper took my lips as he plunged once more, deep and hard, into me.

              I threw my head back and cried out as my body buckled and quivered in complete release. My muscles twitched as nerve endings exploded with pleasure and my body. My toes curled and my legs tightened around Cooper’s hips. I could feel my pussy clenching in release against his hard cock and feeling his hard cock still in me only furthered my release.

              As soon as the edges of my intense release began to wear off, Cooper began thrusting again, making my body explode all over again.

              “Oh my god,” I gasped. “I don’t think I can….I can’t again…!”

              Cooper took my lips. “You can,” he said gruffly as he thrust hard into me. “And you will.”

              I groaned as he plunged deep into me, his cock brushing against my cervix almost.

              “But this time,” he said, as he thrust again, “we’ll come together.”

              And after one more deep plunge that stretched the walls of my pussy thin, we crashed together like waves across a rocky shore.

              He roared deeply as I cried out, unable to handle the sheer exhaustion of coming so soon again.

              Cooper’s arms tightened around me, pulling me closer to him. Our hot breaths mingled together as our bodies quivered and shook from the intensity of our joining.

              Everything was silent except for the sounds of our hearts, pounding together in rhythm.

              The walls may fall around us. The ground may shake.

              But I’ll be happy in his arms.

              This much I knew.

Chapter
Sixteen
Cooper

              “Hello! Hello!”

              A tiny poke of light pierced the dim space.

              “Hello there! Hawk! Captain Hawk?”

              “Here!” I shouted immediately. I gathered Emilia and pulled her away from the spotlight of light that suddenly poked through in case the stones collapsed upon us. “We’re in here!”

              Soon the spot of light grew wider and wider until we saw a hand pop through. Emilia gasped then made a cry of excitement.

              “We’re here!” she cried out, grasping my hand tightly.

              More of the wreckage was cleared away and Bear’s head popped into view. He was covered in dirt and sweat from excavating the rubble. I could see lines of exhaustion creasing his face. God knows how long he and the men had been digging.

              But despite all that, he grinned when he caught sight of us. He threw Emilia a wink.

              “I figured you might be,” he said dryly, his teeth flashing white against the dirt of his face. “Hold on tight, boss. We’ll get you out of there in a jiffy.”

              A jiffy would be nice. After nearly ten hours of being trapped, it would be good to stand up in fresh air again.

              And true to Bear’s words, the light grew and our dim little cocoon opened up and cool, fresh air blew against us. I was wearing my undershirt again but I wrapped my outer shirt around Emilia. It was nearing dusk and the air was much cooler than it had been when we had been buried.

              Within a matter of moments, Bear was helping to pull us out of our cavern. After so many hours, we were finally freed. Finally out.

              It almost felt like a rebirth. We had been buried as two people, fighting against ourselves and each other, unable to deny our feelings but unwilling to act on them. Then we came out ten hours later, united and together and feeling more complete then ever before.

              And as I helped Emilia down the rubble, I saw that the city was in complete shambles. Nearly every building had toppled over. I saw that there were scattered groups of townspeople around the square. Some were in stunned shock while others were sobbing, crying out for their missing family members.

              I looked down and saw Emilia surveying the landscape, a grim expression growing on her face. But she felt my gaze upon her. She looked up and the grim expression lessened a bit. She reached for my hand and I squeezed it.

              We had come out of our isolated little cavern and entered a world of chaos and pain and had plenty of responsibilities now to help treat it. It was going to be an incredible amount of work. It was going to be an impossible feat.

              But we had each other. That was something we couldn’t have said ten hours ago.

              And for that fact alone, I knew we both felt stronger to the task.

***

              “Are you sure you don’t want to take a break, Hawk?” Bear asked in a voice that sounded only mildly concerned. I saw his eyes do a quick yet thorough study over me.

              I shook my head. I was exhausted and my body felt as stiff as frozen cardboard but there was so much to do and we had only a handful of people to do it. People would die if all of us didn’t pull our weight.

“I’m fine,” I said. “We need as many hands on board as possible right now anyway. So let’s start splitting up the stations and men and get a triage going.”

              And soon, we were off. And the next several hours flew by like a whirl. Although we had managed to save a good portion of the town by evacuating them into the town square, that hadn’t been everyone. There had been a fair number of people who hadn’t come to the meeting hall for medical attention. And those people were buried under the wreckage.

              And I knew not all of them had ended up as lucky as Emilia and I had.

              Quickly, I dispatched Easy Team as search and rescue. We quickly paired off and assessed the situation at different piles of rubble on how to dig and find any survivors. It was tricky business since we had to be careful not to make any pile collapse upon itself in case that killed any possible buried survivors.

              There was barely any time to think about anything else as we pulled bodies from the wreckage. There was probably damage at the refugee camp as well but it was better to be surrounded by flexible tents than brick walls. In some ways, even though the city people were marginally better off than the refugees on any other day, today they had been hurt worse by the earthquake.

              Hours flew by.

              Darkness fell and we worked with flashlights. We pulled body after body.

              Some were alive. Many were dead.

              Bear and I pulled at enough wreckage till we our hands were raw and scraped and bloody.

              Then before we knew it, the early gray light of morning came again. We had worked straight through the night.

              No one had even anticipated anything like an earthquake so everything we did was out of makeshift material.

              We set up different stations for the dead, dying, and injured. Within the injured station, the patients were separated by the degree of injury.

              With every body we brought over, we hardly had time to look up and notice who took him before we headed back out to search again. It was only when the cool early morning lights began to shine on us, that I noticed the dirt and sweat trails lining Doc Jones’s face.

              I liked the old man and his humor. But I also knew he was more than just a man with a dry wit. He was a capable doctor with decades of experience. And seeing him flying between bodies, I could see the experience come into play.

              His face was lined with exhaustion but he made no motion to slow down and made sure to treat each patient as quickly as he could so he could move onto the next one.

              I saw Margie taking a rare breather and sipping from a canteen. She sighed after her sip and handed the canteen to another nurse whose hand shook from exhaustion as she raised it to her lips. Margie held on to the nurse’s hand to guide the bottle to her lips.

              Seeing their exhaustion and feeling my own, I immediately scanned the area for Emilia. My muscles were quivering from nearing their own breaking point. For over twelve hours, I had been pulling rocks and rubble out and carrying bodies back and forth. If I was exhausted, I knew Emilia was probably swaying on her feet.

              “Hawk, I think that’s all of them,” Bear said, interrupting my thoughts.

              I turned and saw Bear squinting from the sweat and dirt that was dribbling down his face and into his eyes.

              I looked around the town square that had been turned into a makeshift open-air hospital. “There’d be no way to do a count, I’m guessing,” I said, putting my hands on my hips to stop them from throbbing. My fingers twitched against the muscles being used beyond exhaustion. “I doubt they’d have files for a census. What about the city official? Did you happen to—”

              I saw Bear’s face darken. “When?” I asked, feeling suddenly saddened for the good old man who had only wanted the best for his dying town.

              “He was one of the first we found when we started digging for you,” Bear explained. “I think the man was helping people out of the nearby buildings when he got caught up in a fall.”

              I nodded. “Right,” I said with a deep breath. “Then that only leaves some of the more distant homes on the outskirts that need checking and rescuing. But we can’t leave the med team for that now. We’ll go tomorrow. Maybe by then, we’ll hear from some relief workers—Mr. Carew or the UN.”

              I clapped a hand on Bear’s shoulder. “Take a rest then. Help the med team where they need help but take a rest first. Tell all the men to take a rest.”

              Bear nodded and headed off to relieve Easy Team. But before taking a step, he hesitated and turned around.

              “What?” I asked.

              “I don’t know if this is the best time,” Bear started, his brows furrowed together, “but I thought you should know that Tennessee picked up on some chatter about an American dealing with some Qunari gangs near here.”

              “What?” I said in surprise. “When?”

              “Right before the earthquake hit, he hit me up on the radio. He had gone back to base camp from the refugee camp to pick up some needed equipment from the medical tent. He heard the chatter then and radioed me. But before I could tell you,” he made a sweeping gesture at the destroyed town, “this happened.”

              I put a hand on the back of my neck, the muscles feeling as tight as violin strings. “Anything else besides the chatter of him hanging out with gangs?”

              Bear looked around us to make sure no one was listening in. He leaned in and said lowly, “Apparently, there’s some talk that the American is working in arms dealing.”

              My back stiffened. “What the fuck,” I blew out in one breath.

              “You’re telling me,” Bear said, shaking his head.

              Arms dealing in this area was a dangerous business. Qunar was an impoverished but not a dangerous country. But it was surrounded by other dangerous countries that had their own healthy share of terrorist cells and revolutionaries. Arms dealing meant you were directly in contact with these kinds of people.

              “If there’s any working sat phone you can find, report it to Commander Wolffe,” I said. “If not, we’ll just have to wait till we get back to base camp.”

              Bear nodded. Then he looked at me, the question hanging in his eyes before he even spoke. “Do you think it’s really Randall?”

              “Not too many white guys hanging around Qunari gangs around here for it to
not
be him,” I said.

              Bear snorted. “I guess you’re right. But if it is him, then this might mean we need to engage. And we’re not in the best position to—”

              I put up a hand to stop him early. “Let’s wait and see what the commander says,” I said. “He might have more intel.”

              Bear nodded then pressed his lips together, forming a tight straight line. His eyes darkened as he said, “But whatever the case, I’d definitely want another chance at that fucking traitor.”

              I stared at him. We both knew what we the other was thinking.

              El Salvador. The dead women. The absolute and utter betrayal.

              “Me too,” I finally said, nodding. “Goddammit, me too.”

              Bear slapped my arm in agreement then finally walked away.

              I took a moment to push back those thoughts for another time and then turned back around to find the one person I needed to be near.

              Margie had managed to get to the opposite end of the square where Emilia was bent over a man who was covered in dried blood and dust. I watched as Emilia tied a makeshift splint to the man’s mangled arm.

              By the looks of it, the arm would probably need amputating but there was nothing that could be done about it now out here.

              Emilia and Margie then helped the man lie down onto his back, careful to keep his damaged arm steady. As Emilia stood back up, she swayed alarmingly. Margie grabbed her wrist, steadying her.

              I quickly made my way over.

              “I’ll take her,” I said firmly, catching Emilia in my arms.

              Margie, her eyes ringed with fatigue, looked up in surprise. “Oh Captain Hawking,” she said in a tone of mild surprise, as if she had bumped into me on the street. I could tell she just didn’t have the energy to even be genuinely surprised. “You’re not still working, are you? You and your men? You all have been at it for hours!”

              “No, we think we’ve recovered everyone from town,” I said, holding Emilia tightly. I could feel tremors of exhaustion running through her slim shoulders. “We’ll do another sweep in a few hours.”

              Margie nodded. “Then why doesn’t Dr. Lyon rest until the next sweep?”

              Emilia’s eyes widened. “Don’t be silly, Margie,” she said sharply, trying to find her feet and failing. “You need me here. There are way too many patients to care providers here.”

              Margie shook her head. “You’ll be no good if you’re this tired. You might try and amputate a leg when they have a broken arm,” she said with a tired smile.

              Emilia finally managed to stand straight, although I kept my arm around her waist, ready to catch her should she fall.

              “Don’t be ridiculous. You’ve been at this longer than I have. If anyone should rest, it should be you,” she said with a surprising amount of strength in her voice.

              Margie raised a dry brow. “But I wasn’t trapped under rubble for ten hours,” she said. Emilia opened her mouth to argue but Margie wasn’t having it. “You were lucky, yes. You didn't get crushed or killed by the falling debris but being trapped for so many hours is no simple matter. And look at your hand. I’m quite sure you’ve fractured a bone or two.” I looked down and my jaw tightened to see Emilia’s right hand swollen and red with dried blood running down the side of it. She must’ve injured it during the earthquake.