Enlisting Her Heart (3 page)

Violet’s arms were wound around Kodiak’s neck as he rolled against her. When something pressed against her from behind, sandwiching her in a wall of muscle, she fought a moan. Her head spun to see whose hand was now planted on her thigh and brushing against her breast and met the intense glare of Hulk. Her body stiffened, unsure how to react. He leaned in, his lips brushing against her ear. “Damn, you’re so fucking hot.” Hulk traced the tip of his tongue along her earlobe and she shivered. Her eyes shot back to Kodiak, hoping this wasn’t the beginning of a pissing match. From the look he gave over his shoulder, it was the opposite. The duo worked her into a raging boil of need. Her hands roamed over them both, feeling out each ripped mouthwatering muscle of their upper bodies. Hulk forgot about the competition and reveled in the moment. Violet seemed lost in them, her body responding to each touch and caress. For time the song provided, he let go and allowed himself to just feel. Having a woman become turned on at the aid of another set of hands was more intoxicating than he would have ever dreamed. It was intoxicating—watching her soak up all they had to offer. With each groan that came from her parted lips a brick around his pride and heart tumbled down.

The crowd began to die down, and Violet was stumbling to keep from inviting them both back to her room. Thankfully, they looked just as torn as she did. Whether it was the alcohol or the atmosphere, Violet had tread into a wild side of herself she didn’t know existed. Reluctantly, Hulk and Kodiak released her and walked back to the bar. They ordered her another drink, the conversation minimal. What she found more disturbing than the awkward situation was that it wasn’t so awkward. It was the desire that flowed from each of them that had her itching to take the night one step further. If not for the fear of ruining the spell that had been cast over them, she would have. Still, something held her back. If there was to be a future that included the two men she had it bad for, she needed to take things slow.

“This view is gorgeous,” she said, looking out at the moon casting its glow on the sparkling water. From the waves that rolled against the surf to the warm light breeze, the night left only fantasies and possibilities for her imagination to ponder.

“Yeah. It is.” Kodiak’s eyes roamed up and down her body. She turned and caught him, darting her eyes to Hulk. The look in his eyes was something she couldn’t put her finger on. Arousal? Pain? Anger? His expression was hard, making it too hard to decode what he was thinking. She didn’t know what to say or do. She sucked her drink down a little too fast, feeling the alcohol rush through her system. The three engaged in small talk for the next twenty minutes when Violet had enough. Deciding it was time to end things before something ruined the night’s events, she made for a clean break.

“Thank you both for a wonderful time, but I’m headed to bed. I think that last drink got to me.” She fanned her face, hoping they bought her lame excuse. Hulk nodded and set his glass on the bar.

“I’m calling it a night too. I’ll walk you back.” Before Hulk could step away, Kodiak looped his arm through Violet’s.

“The pleasure was all mine. Shall we?” He held his other arm outstretched for Hulk to lead the way, only to be left hanging. Hulk glared at him and moved to Violet’s other side and took her other arm. Violet felt the tension and groaned inwardly. Things seemed to be getting more complicated as the night went on. It was definitely time to go to bed.

When they arrived back at the huts the team had rented out along the beach, they waited while she opened her door. Violet turned to thank them, unsure what to expect. Both men just stood there as if expecting something. The situation of it all got the best of her so she did what any woman would do—she ran. “Thanks again for a fun night. See you both at breakfast.” Before they had a chance to respond, she had shut and locked the door.

Hulk turned to Kodiak and shrugged. He had no idea what he had expected to happen, but it hadn’t been this. Sure he knew she liked Kodiak. Who didn’t? He hadn’t ever considered being in a polygamous relationship before and still wasn’t. So what? He expected a kiss good-night? Then what, she'd kiss Kodiak? Hell, the more he thought about it, the more her reaction made sense.

“Well then. Come on. I’ll buy you a drink before we call it a night.” Kodiak nodded toward the bar. As much as Hulk wanted to be pissed, he couldn’t. Kodiak was his brother and hadn’t done anything he hadn’t done himself. How could something so good be so fucked up?

“Maybe a drink will do me some good.” He reached down and adjusted his junk, not caring who saw. Kodiak laughed, shaking his head.

“I know what you mean, bro.”

One drink had turned into four. Hulk had relaxed some and was now lying in bed, praying it had been enough to numb his mind so he could get some sleep. With him and Kodiak sharing a room, it was almost impossible to drown out the sound. He reached for his headphones but his phone was dead. “Fuck.” He grabbed the extra pillow and shoved it over his head, trying to doze off before the punishing rays of the sun came streaming through the window at its normal ungodly hour.

Kodiak had just coasted off into the darkness when Hulk’s screams jarred him up, his heart thumping like the hooves of a racehorse against his rib cage. “No! Venus! I won’t leave you!” Kodiak looked over and saw Hulk thrashing against his sheets. His screams tore at his soul. He knew exactly what demons were torturing his brother and, his heart shredded into pieces. He sat up and stood, carefully approaching. He had to stop it, had to free his friend from the hell he knew all so well. There was no doubt this was why Hulk had been a walking time bomb ready to blow at any minute, and it was time he defused him.

“Bro, it’s just a bad dream, man.” He reached out and touched his arm, trying to wake him. Hulk’s fist flew up and landed on the side of Kodiak’s jaw. He stumbled backwards and fought the anger that immediately spiked in his blood. Hulk was still sound asleep. His yells were getting louder. He was careful to grab his foot this time, keeping his distance. “Zane! Fuck, man, wake up!” Finally, Hulk woke, disoriented and looking around. “Come back to me, bro. You’re on vacation, not on the battlefield.” When he spotted Kodiak, recognition finally hit as to where he was.

Hulk had been fighting to get to Venus moments before the Humvee exploded. When he woke, he didn’t know where he was. “Wha—”

“It’s okay, dude. Let it go man. You can’t keep going on like this.” Kodiak didn’t know what to say. Guys didn’t do mushy shit, much less to each other. But the subject had been avoided for too long. Hulk was getting worse before their eyes. Hulk blinked a few times, sitting up.

“Fuck.” Hulk switched on the bedside lamp.

“Hey. You back with me now?” Kodiak cautiously moved forward, his face coming into the light.

“Yeah, man, sorry. Hell of a dream. Damn! Did I do that?” He spotted the swelling that already was showing from the lethal left hook.

Kodiak grinned. “Does it make me look tougher?” He turned, laughing. “I guess I had it coming.”

Hulk felt like shit. He knew Kodiak was trying to make him feel better, but it still was hard to face. Guilt flooded him. First for the sucker punch, then for feeling jealousy toward him with Violet. Brothers to the death, in the field and off. Kodiak had just proved that once again. “Yeah. Let me get the other side to hide your ugly mug.” He laid back down and flipped off the light. “Thanks, man.” Without another word the two went back to bed, skipping the Dr. Phil episode.

Kodiak woke abruptly. He groaned, turning over to look at Hulk. “Umph.” Whatever had woken him wasn’t Hulk though. He was sound asleep, restfully. No fighting, no snoring. Just a deep peaceful sleep. Kodiak looked around, remaining still. There was another thump just outside their hut. A shadow moved by the window and Kodiak went from groggy to full blown battle mode. He slowly reached under his pillow and grabbed the nine-millimeter pistol he kept and quietly chambered a round under the covers.

The doorknob jiggled. They were about to get company. He said a prayer and quietly got up, praying Hulk wouldn’t smash the other side of his face. He nudged him, leaning in to whisper in his ear. “We have company. Don’t move too fast but things are about to heat up in here.” Hulk heard him and woke instantly, grabbing his piece from the bedside table. Both of them quietly moved to stand against the wall next to the door and waited.

It didn’t take their intruder long to gain entrance. The lock popped open and the door cracked, creaking open slowly. When the men entered, Hulk hit the lights and Kodiak used the butt of his gun to drop the second intruder. “Good morning, sunshine!” Hulk said just before the man in front of him got a shot off. Hulk pulled the trigger, nailing him right between the eyes.

“Nice shot. Let’s get sleeping beauty here tied up and call the others. Somehow I doubt this is natives hoping to score a few bucks,” Kodiak said sarcastically.

“Yeah. I don’t think they were looking for a good time either.” Hulk pulled the mask off the man who lay in a pool of blood. “Another fucking hodgie. Go figure.”

Kodiak unmasked the other one, and nodded. “This one too.” He grabbed the bundle of five fifty cord out of his bag and tied the unconscious attacker up, careful to not touch either of the weapons the men carried. Hulk called the team who all had showed before his last knot was tied.

“Someone better be dead,” Dom growled as he walked through the door. Vice was right behind him, shooting daggers from her eyes. She remained by the door, tugging at the zipper of her hoodie. Dom’s eyes fell to the bled out body and then to Kodiak and Hulk. “Well then. I guess you pulled me out of bed for a reason.”

“Let’s find out who these fuckers are before the women wake up. Joker, check their pockets.” He tossed him a pair of gloves. “Don’t leave finger prints, boys.” Dom waited, examining the guns that lay on the floor beside the bodies. “Silencers. I’m calling the General.” He flipped out his phone and began giving a briefing of what had just went down. When he hung up the phone, he grinned. “Let’s wake sleeping beauty, shall we?”

Vice stepped up, her features still in a state of disarray. “Let me.” She hovered over the unconscious man, punching him square in the jaw. The man started to stir, groaning when she smashed her knuckles across the rag head’s nose.

“Fuck!” the man yelled. He moved to get up, only to find his arms and legs bound. He looked around frantically.

“Yeah you hodgie mother fucker. What now? Are you gonna talk, or are we gonna have some fun tonight?” Romeo said a little too enthusiastically. Vice reared back again, ready to hit the dude until his tongue worked.

“Make it fast you son-of-a-bitch, you interrupted something I wanna get back to.” The guys all turned and looked at her, noticing the leather collar around her neck and laughed. She scowled at them all, adjusting her zipper once again. They had been called so abruptly that she hadn’t had time to change. Dom had opted for one hell of a night, and by God she was gonna get him to finish what he started before breakfast. The sadist asshole had kept her teetering on the edge of release for over five damn hours. She was past her point of caring who knew what they were up to or what ideas they might have. If she had to kill an army of assailants, so be it. The man spit at her, snapping the last bit of patience she had left. Her sexual frustration had turned into violent anger. She unleashed her fists, pummeling the man repeatedly until Dom stopped her.

“Enough. Now, before I let her finish you off, tell me who sent you.” The man’s mouth was oozing blood, mixing with the fountain that gushed out of his nose. He blinked a few times, fighting the swelling that was already setting in.

He smiled, his knocked tooth falling onto the floor beside his head. “Allah.”

“That’s it.” Vice went full blown
Full Metal Jacket
on the battered hodgie. She kicked him in the ribs, stomping hard enough the sound of bones being cracked radiated through the room. A few of the guys flinched, groaning and withdrawing when her foot fell lower, crushing the man’s junk. Kick after kick she tortured his groin until the man turned his head to the side and puked. Dom’s hand grasped her arm and pulled her back, cautious to keep an arm length away to dodge the fist that instinctively flew when she spun around.

“Easy, Vice.” His voice was calm, it’s effects visibly lowering her adrenaline as her posture relaxed into him.

Hulk growled. “Mother fuck.” He lowered his gun, aiming it straight between the guy’s eyes.

“Wait! Stop, I talk I talk!”

Dom glanced at the team. He knew the man was doing his job and if told it was for the virgins and shit, he’d die like his suicide bomber brothers. And sons. And uncles. And the helpless women who weren’t given a choice. If the U.S. had sent him, that meant they were close to stumbling onto something that someone didn’t want them to.

“Spit it out and fast before I let the lady here finish what she started.” Juju grinned.

“There is a boat.” He gurgled between the blood and broken English.

Vice was just about to knock the shit out of the man again when Rock stopped her. “Don’t. He doesn’t know anything. They’re just a distraction.” Dom and the others’ heads jerked in his direction.

“Distraction?” Dom’s mind began to whirl. It made sense. Whoever sent them knew good damn and well that two men, assassins or not, wouldn’t be a match for their elite team. So, what were they trying to keep them from? “Where is the meeting?” he growled.

“Meeting?” the guy asked, unconvincing in his playing stupid routine.

“You know good damn and well what meeting, now where is Vice President Kovack and Senator Nelson meeting!” anger growled with each word.

Surprise flashed through the man’s eyes and was gone, his stone cold blank stare quickly taking its place. But it was too late. He had failed. His chance at freedom was gone either way. Unlike the other terrorists, he had been recruited with threats to his family; his cooperation the only chance they had at survival. “Meeting at the boat. Big Americans meet there.” He spat. “My family…I have to save my family.”

“Go on,” Dom commanded. His patience had started to waiver. Between the little events he had been sharing with Vice, then being pulled out of bed for some panty waist spy wannabes, he wanted to be done with it and now.

“There is a private jet with a small convoy of birds scheduled to land just north of here at 0630. Also when a fleet of cargo ships are due to dock. I came across this information by mistake so there’s a chance I misunderstood but if I had to put money on it, something is happening. Please, please don’t kill me. I had to come. They threatened my family,” the hodgie confessed in his native tongue, rattling off more than they had hoped for. The team all reconsidered their initial response.

“What are we going to do with him?” Vice asked hastily.

“Please. Please let me go back to my family. I had no choice,” he begged, his voice just above a whisper.

“Untie him,” Dom instructed.

“What? You can’t possibly be serious. He came here to kill us. What’s to say he won’t turn the second he gets an opening? Hell, these fuckers are all the same. They strap explosives to dogs and small kids for fuck's sake,” Juju objected.

“Because our new friend is going to be our tour guide. We all know there won’t be an opening for him to make a move. Bud—you, Kodiak, and Maverick stay here and pull guard. I want everyone in one place under lockdown until we get this sorted out.”

“Roger that.” Bud turned to the selected and nodded for them to start their task. Hulk grumbled under his breath, hating that Kodiak would be the one left to protect Violet. He knew better than to speak his objection, especially since he wasn’t ready to answer the flood of questions that it would trigger. His eyes narrowed on Kodiak who instinctively turned to look at him. Kodiak’s grin said it all. The warning Hulk shot at him only made him smile bigger. The small group left, setting off to get the others rounded up and in a safer location.

“Call Pop and tell him to get here now. We can brief him on the way. If things are as rough as he’s been leading on, a break from Cruella de Vil is welcomed.”

“On it.” Maverick punched a few buttons on his phone. “Done. He’s en route. It looks like you weren’t the only ones still awake, Dom.”

Dom nodded, stepping outside with him to discuss their strategy, returning shortly with keys in hand.

“Load up.” Romeo and Juju pulled the roughed up captive to his feet and led him to the SUV that had been brought to the hut.

“Don’t do anything stupid. Vice here has a hair trigger, and loves nothing more than finding creative targets to aim for,” Juju joked. Vice walked behind him, her sniper rifle on her back and a pistol in hand. While Rock and Dom loaded bags of ammo and weapons in the back, Juju and Romeo positioned their hostage in the middle seat with each of them at his side. Both of the team’s snipers were in the third row seating, guns cocked and aimed at the back of his head.

“You’re navigational skills, if you please,” Dom spat sarcastically. He still didn’t trust the fucker, but he didn’t think the dick was stupid enough to lead them into a trap either. The man didn’t seem cut out to be a stone cold killer, which made him just a lackey for the higher up on the political totem pole; most likely on the terrorist side.

The man was growing irritated, but he kept his cool. “Get on the highway headed north. It’s about ten miles up along the coast,” he said somberly.

“After you show us the location we are handing you over to the General for him to decide the best course of action. Your cooperation is appreciated despite the circumstances, and leniency will be given,” Pop explained, although it wasn’t necessary for him to give the guy any explanation. It showed character that he was willing to help. Depending on the next few minutes, the man might save his own life.