AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Is she sleeping?” I whisper to him. I need to make sure before I spill my guts to Harris. JJ nods his head then stuffs his earbuds back into his ears, going back to the movie he was watching on the small monitor attached to the back of the seat in front of him.
“What the fuck is going on between you two and don’t fucking lie to me.” Harris snaps. Which no doubt has me teetering on the edge of grabbing him by the throat and telling him to shut his fucking mouth.
But I don’t and I won’t. What I will do is tell him what he needs to fucking hear. What he needs to know before we land and before he thinks for one damn second he’s going to get anywhere near her once we’ve been cleared to go about our daily lives.
I decide to toy with him a little and play stupid.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I whisper low. I’m not about to wake her up. This is out of line on his part, and he damn well knows it. Not that I have room to talk about being out of line.
“Don’t play dumb, Maverick. I’m not as fucking oblivious as you think. I see the way you look at her. You want her.” His tone is arrogant.
“This isn’t the time or the place to have this discussion.” I let my stare challenge him to say more.
“I don’t see why not. Look around. There isn’t a single person paying attention to you having your arms around her except me.” His brows lift.
I contemplate my answer. Do I tell him or not? If I do, I risk the chance of him opening his mouth to Jade, letting her know he knows. Or worse, telling someone of rank that could ruin my career and hers. If I don’t, he’ll go after her. He’s a man like me, who goes after what he wants, and we both know he wants her for more than a quick fuck. She’s the only one who is blind and can’t see it.
She sees him as her friend. A friend whom, thank god, I stopped before they fucked. Before he used that fuck to get under her skin. The difference between Harris and I is, I went after what I wanted the first chance I got. Where he’s had years to tell her how he’s felt about her. Years he wasted. He fucked up.
This woman lying in my arms, sleeping on my shoulder, is right where she is meant to be. With me. I’m going to have to fight tooth and nail to make her see it. I may have fought hard on every mission I’ve been on, every deployment I went to and I know damn well she'll be worth the fight.
There is nothing I will fight harder for than her. I need her as much as she needs me. And I’ll be damned if a man who isn’t man enough to tell a woman how he feels about her will stand in my way.
“You want the truth, Harris? Here’s the truth. She’s mine.” I growl the words through a whisper, hoping she doesn't wake up. He’s somewhat shocked, but his expression is angrier than anything.
“It's funny how she doesn't seem to acknowledge that herself.” He leans closer, making sure I hear him. “She's not something that I'll walk away from, and she's sure as fuck not someone I'll let get into something that’s going to hurt her. Let me ask you, Commander, why exactly was Jade’s back full of bloody scrapes and scratches?” I look toward the stewardess coming down the middle aisle, not wanting to get into it with him. Why can't he just understand that I'm not fucking around here?
“What Jade and I do is none of your fucking business.”
“That’s where you're dead fucking wrong. If she gets hurt, I feel obligated to find justice in who wronged her. If you're some fucked-up asshole who gets off on making people bleed, you just need to walk the fuck away from her. Consider it saving your own life.”
“That's not how it is.” I look down to her sleeping peacefully on my shoulder. Christ. I really don’t give a shit what his opinion of me is. It’s her I care about. Her opinion matters. She has to know I want more than sex with her. I’ve told her this.
“Look, I have nothing but respect for you as a leader and a soldier, but Jade is not an area I’ll settle on. She deserves happiness. If you're what causes that, then you’ll have my full support, but if I see one fucking tear in her eye that you caused…. Be prepared to meet me for your day of reckoning.”
“I can work with that.” Because the last thing I want to see is another tear escape her gorgeous eyes.
“And don't fucking claim her like a piece of property. She's a human being, a strong one at that, who can make her own decisions. And until she tells me she's taken, I'll be right beside her, just being me.”
I want to like the man who went to battle with me to take down one of the most notorious terrorists of all time, but this guy is choosing to go to war with me now.
“Harris, don't kid yourself, you don't stand a chance in a war with me. I'll ruin you. I'll make you disappear into the depths of hell on a fucking mission you'd rather die than finish.”
“And I'll climb out of that hell to come find you if you so much as put another fucking scratch on her porcelain body.” We may disagree on who should hold her at night, but we agree on Jade’s safety. I want her happy too, and I will do my best to make sure she recovers from the nightmares she's bound to have.” I swallow hard and take in the words he’s saying. If she comes with me, I'll do everything in my power to make sure she's not hurt.
“I can respect that,” I say truthfully.
“Good. I'm glad we could see eye to eye.” He sits back finally, looking straight ahead at his monitor, and stuffs those earbuds in his ears. Keep them there, asshole; and you will stay the hell away from her.
CHAPTER NINE
JADE
The jolt of the plane landing wakes me up. I’m incredibly warm and definitely not sleeping on a soft pillow. No, what I’m lying on is hard, but damn,I’m right where a part of me wants to be though. His smell gives him away. He’s all man. Rough, rugged, and tough man that’s easy to feel safe near. When I open my eyes, I see one of my legs is curled up underneath me, my inured arm is sprawled across his chest, and my head is lying on his shoulder. God, he feels good with his arm wrapped around me, caging me in tight to his body. I go to move, my body aching to stretch. I’m pulled tighter into him. My mind wonders how I went from falling asleep on Harris’s shoulder to Kaleb’s.
“Hey, sleepyhead.” His voice is raspy. He must’ve fallen asleep too.
“Hey.” I jerk out of his hold, realizing what I’ve done. My eyes dart to Harris, who is sleeping. I hope he missed just how sprawled across Kaleb I was. I roll my neck around and stretch my legs out the best I can, trying to regain feeling in my limbs from this long flight.
