No one else reported a damn thing.
Graham wants to go home. If there’s no one for him to talk to, then why is he here? “I’ll be back. I’m gonna check in,” he says, and he walks away from the group. He pulls out his phone and calls Fein.
“How much longer?” he demands as soon as the man answers.
“And good day to you too, Knox,” he says, and Graham almost tells him to shove the sarcasm up his ass. Which is definitely a sign of just how far gone he is.
“We’ve got an area we want you and your team to check out and then we’ll call it. We’re sending the coordinates throughnow. Check in with your commanding officer when we hang up.” There’s a pause. “Unless you need me to pull you out now?”
“No,” he says, voice firm. “I can make it.”
“Good. I’m pleased with your recovery time. I know it wasn’t ideal sending you out again so soon. I heard an earful from both the doctor and Berringer.”
“I’ve worked for you for a long time. I want time with him.”
Fein grunts. It’s as close to an apology as Graham will ever get. “I’m in the middle of arranging Berringer’s transfer. But it isn’t done yet. The army doesn’t like to trade good Dominants. Berringer is expensive but worth it. I want you functional. There won’t be too many more missions where you’re on your own.”
His heart clenches just from hearing the name and his eyes burn with unshed tears.Tears? He needs Colton. It’s pitiful, pathetic, but the man is all he can think about.
“Thank you,” he says, unable to say anything else. Colton will join them and be his Dominant permanently? “What does he think of that?”
“Why don’t you ask him yourself? He’s in a conference room going over the legal documents now.”
“He’s there?” he asks, and he actually squats down to the ground and leans against the side of the wall. He tries to breathe evenly as he processes the information.
“How about I patch you through?”
“Yeah. Yeah, okay.”
Fein’s voice is kind. “Hang in there. We’re gonna get all this resolved. I’m glad we’ve finally found someone you connect with.”
And then there is some kind of hold music. There’s a few clicks and then the line crackles, someone speaks, and he can’t even tell what they’re saying it’s so fucking garbled. Then there’s another click and he thinks they’re gone. The call dropped. He wants to scream.
“This is Berringer,” he suddenly hears, clear as a bell.
“Colton?” Graham asks, which is stupid because of course it’s him, but he had nothing else to say.
“Graham. How are you, sweetheart?” he asks, and he’s so calm and protective sounding. His voice washes over Graham, deep and concerned.
“I’m…” And this is where he should lie. He should say that he’s fine because he can endure anything. Or he should say he’s fine because he doesn’t really know Colton beyond the two times they’ve met up. Or maybe he should say he’s fine because it’s not like there’s anything Colton can do, so why bother him?
It sucks and he’ll get through this and then it will be over.
“You know what I want?” Colton asks, and Graham hears a door shut, just knows that he now has complete privacy.
“No. I have no idea.” He closes his eyes so he can concentrate on the words and the way they’ll sound coming out of his mouth.
“I want you to be honest with me. I want to be your exception for everything. I want you to give me more of you than you give anyone else. I promise I won’t betray your trust. I’ll do my damnedest. Alright?”
“Alright.” He has to repeat it because the word was silent the first time he said it.
“Good. Wonderful. So I’m going to ask you again. How are you?”
He swallows hard. It was a lot easier to agree before he had to actually do it. “I… I wish I was with you back home.” And just that little bit of honesty, of putting some weight onto Colton and trusting him, makes Graham feel a little calmer and more clear-headed. “Wish I hadn’t had to leave when I did.”
“I know, me too. As soon as you’re back, I’ll use you so hard and well, sweetheart.”
He wants to punch the wall. He doesn’t. “I don’t know when I’ll be back. Maybe… maybe twenty-four hours? Maybe less, butthat’s what I’m telling myself. I can make it twenty-four hours.” There’s a pain in his scalp and he realizes it’s because he’s gripping his hair too hard. He lets go, brushes it down. “We have an area to investigate, I guess. The submissive we’re looking for was gone by the time we got here. We’ve been lucky so far. No injuries.” He clears his throat. “What if it goes wrong and it’s days before I’m back?”
